H1N1 (2009) pandemic influenza virus may have a tendency to increase its virulence, study says

[Giuseppe]

Written by IOH. (10/15/10)

A study published by PLoS Pathogens (see reference below) rises the possibility that the mild pandemic caused by the novel H1N1 (2009) strain of influenza virus might know a future setback when a variant possessing some mutations will emerge with an increased virulence.

The mutations behind this increased virulence have been isolated in a mouse model after infection with one of the representative strain of H1N1 (2009) pandemic influenza virus.

This paper should be analyzed in depth for potential public health impacts.

More on:

Ye J, Sorrell EM, Cai Y, Shao H, Xu K, et al. (2010) Variations in the Hemagglutinin of the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Virus: Potential for Strains with Altered Virulence Phenotype? PLoS Pathog 6(10): e1001145. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001145

On the Web: (LINK)

On FluTrackers: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=374924&postcount=1

Excerpts:

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HI assays against H1N1pdm demonstrate that the D131E and S186P mutations caused minor antigenic changes and, likely, affected receptor binding. The rapid selection of ma-Ca/04 in mice suggests that a virus containing this constellation of amino acids might have already been present in Ca/04, likely as minor quasispecies.

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This atypical mild pandemic season has raised concerns regarding the potential of this virus to become more virulent. Using a mouse model, we were able to demonstrate that this pandemic strain is amenable to mutations that lead to a more virulent virus.

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