Abstract
Influenza virus type B strains were unexpectedly detected and isolated in Italy during summer-fall 2008 from three patients travelling to Italy from Lebanon, Senegal and Uzbekistan. The three summer-fall strains matched to a high degree the hemagglutinin (HAl) of influenza virus type B strains circulating in Italy in the second part (January through April) of the 2007/2008 season, and HAl of the type B strains included in the 2008/2009 vaccine (B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage). Surveillance of influenza virus circulation in Western countries also during the summerfall season may help to trace and anticipate the appearance of new influenza virus variants.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 405-410 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | New Microbiologica |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2009 |
Keywords
- Hemagglutinin
- Influenza virus b
- Phylogenetic analysis
- Real-time rt-pcr
- Respiratory viruses
- Vaccines
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology (medical)