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Epidemiology of Influenza B in Australia: 2001-2014 Influenza Seasons

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  • Epidemiology of Influenza B in Australia: 2001-2014 Influenza Seasons

    Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2016 Sep 21. doi: 10.1111/irv.12432. [Epub ahead of print]
    Epidemiology of Influenza B in Australia: 2001-2014 Influenza Seasons.

    Moa AM1, Muscatello DJ2, Turner RM2, MacIntyre CR2,3.
    Author information

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND:

    Influenza B is characterised by two antigenic lineages; B/Victoria and B/Yamagata. These lineages circulate together with influenza A during influenza seasons, with varying incidence from year to year and by geographic region.
    OBJECTIVE:

    To determine the epidemiology of influenza B relative to influenza A in Australia.
    METHODS:

    Laboratory-confirmed influenza notifications between 2001 and 2014 in Australia were obtained from the Australian National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.
    RESULTS:

    A total of 278,485 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases were notified during the study period; comprising influenza A (82.2%), B (17.1%), and 'other and untyped' (0.7%). The proportion of notifications that were influenza B was highest in 5-9 year-olds (27.5%) and lowest in persons aged 85 years and over (11.5%). Of all B notifications with lineage determined, 77.1% were B/Victoria and 22.9% were B/Yamagata infections. Mismatches between the dominant B lineage in a season and the trivalent vaccine B lineage occurred in over one-third of seasons during the study years. In general, influenza B notifications peaked later than influenza A notifications.
    CONCLUSION:

    The proportion of circulating influenza B in Australia during 2001 to 2014 was slightly lower than the global average and was dominated by B Victoria. Compared with influenza A, influenza B infection was more common among older children and young adults and less common in the very elderly. Influenza B lineage mismatch with the trivalent vaccine occurred about one third of the time. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


    KEYWORDS:

    Australia; Epidemiology; Victoria lineage; Yamagata lineage; influenza B

    PMID: 27650482 DOI: 10.1111/irv.12432
    [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Free full text
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