Relative incidence and individual-level severity of seasonal influenza A H3N2 compared with 2009 pandemic H1N1.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Two subtypes of influenza A currently circulate in humans: seasonal H3N2 (sH3N2, emerged in 1968) and pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1, emerged in 2009). While the epidemiological characteristics of the initial wave of pH1N1 have been studied in detail, less is known about its infection dynamics during subsequent waves or its severity relative to sH3N2. Even prior to 2009, few data was available to estimate the risk of severe outcomes following infection with one circulating influenza strain relative to another.

Methods

We analyzed antibodies in quadruples of sera from individuals in Hong Kong collected between July 2009 and December 2011, a period that included three distinct influenza virus epidemics. We estimated infection incidence using these assay data and then estimate

SUBMITTER: Kwok KO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5425986 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature