Molecular and antigenic characterization of the H3 hemagglutinin of H3N2 influenza A virus strains collected in the Czech Republic during the 2014/2015 epidemic season
Abstrakt
The 2014/2015 influenza epidemic season was characterized by the predominance of the H3N2 subtype. The presented study investigated the genetic and antigenic heterogeneity of the H3N2 strains collected in the Czech Republic from November 2014 to March 2015.
Phylogenetic analysis of the representative H3 hemagglutinin sequences was performed and the glycosylation status and crucial antigenic mutations were compared relative to the 2014 and 2015 vaccine strains (A/Texas/50/2012 and A/Switzerland/9715293/2013) and visualized in the H3 crystal structure. The molecular data were further supplemented by hemagglutination- inhibition test (HIT) results on fifteen H3N2 2014/2015 strains by using the A/Texas/50/2012 (H3N2) and A/Switzerland/9715293/13 (H3N2) antisera.
Our data on the Czech H3N2 viruses from the 2014/2015 epidemic season could supplement the reports of official authorities with data from a particular geographical area.