Occurrence of Influenza Hemagglutinin Antibodies in the Polish Population during the Epidemic Season 2017/18

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Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019 Oct 22. doi: 10.1007/5584_2019_443. [Epub ahead of print] Occurrence of Influenza Hemagglutinin Antibodies in the Polish Population during the Epidemic Season 2017/18.

Hallmann-Szelińska E¹, Szymański K², Łuniewska K², Masny A², Kowalczyk D², Sałamatin R³, Brydak LB².
Author information

1 Department of Influenza Research - National Influenza Center, National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland. ehallmann@pzh.gov.pl. 2 Department of Influenza Research - National Influenza Center, National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland. 3 Department of General Biology and Parasitology, Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

This study seeks to define the level of antihemagglutinin antibodies, using the hemagglutination inhibition assay (HAI), in the serum of patients, stratified into seven age groups, in Poland during the influenza epidemic season of 2017/18. A quadrivalent influenza vaccine has been introduced in Poland as of this epidemic season, making it possible for the first time to conduct the analysis for four antigens: A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1) pdm09, A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2), B/Brisbane/60/2008 - Victoria lineage, and B/Phuket/3073/2013 - Yamagata lineage. We found that the level of individual antihemagglutinin antibodies was different among the seven age groups studied; with the highest in patients of 5-9 years and 10-14 years of age. Interestingly, the protection factor, defined as the percentage of people with the level of antihemagglutinin antibodies of at least 1:40 after vaccination or due to a previous infection, was the highest for the antigen A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2) in the same age groups (74% and 75%, respectively). Taking into account the dismal 3.6% of the vaccinated population in Poland, these findings point toward the sustained presence of an immune system response in patients after a prior influenza virus infection.


KEYWORDS:

Epidemic season; Hemagglutinin antibodies; Immune system; Influenza; Protection factor; Respiratory infection

PMID: 31637606 DOI: 10.1007/5584_2019_443