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Abstract

We report the molecular investigations of a large influenza A(H3N2) outbreak, in a season characterised by sharp increase in influenza admissions since December 2016. Analysis of haemagglutinin (HA) sequences demonstrated co-circulation of multiple clades (3C.3a, 3C.2a and 3C.2a1). Most variants fell into a novel subclade (proposed as 3C.2a2); they possessed four unique amino acid substitutions in the HA protein and loss of a potential glycosylation site. These changes potentially modify the H3N2 strain antigenicity.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.8.30466
2017-02-23
2024-11-13
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.8.30466
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