Reconstruction of the evolutionary dynamics of the A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza virus in Italy during the pandemic and post-pandemic phases.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to reconstruct the evolutionary dynamics of the A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza virus in Italy during two epidemic seasons (2009/2010 and 2010/2011) in the light of the forces driving the evolution of the virus. Nearly six thousands respiratory specimens were collected from patients with influenza-like illness within the framework of the Italian Influenza Surveillance Network, and the A(H1N1)pdm09 hemagglutinin (HA) gene was amplified and directly sequenced from 227 of these. Phylodynamic and phylogeographical analyses were made using a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, and codon-specific positive selection acting on the HA coding sequence was evaluated. The global and local phylogenetic analyses showed that all of the Italian sequences sampled in the post-pandemic

SUBMITTER: Zehender G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3494699 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature