Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Influenza viruses exist in each host as a collection of genetically diverse variants, which might enhance their adaptive potential. To assess the genetic and functional diversity of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses within infected humans, we used deep-sequencing methods to characterize samples obtained from infected patients in northern Vietnam during 2004-2010 on different days after infection, from different anatomic sites, or both. We detected changes in virus genes that affected receptor binding, polymerase activity, or interferon antagonism, suggesting that these factors could play roles in influenza virus adaptation to humans. However, the frequency of most of these mutations remained low in the samples tested, implying that they were not efficiently selected within these hosts. Our data suggest that adaptation of influenza A(H5N1) viruses is probably stepwise and depends on accumulating combinations of mutations that alter function while maintaining fitness.
Source: Emerging infectious diseases
Authors: Hirotaka Imai, Jorge M. Dinis, Gongxun Zhong, Louise H. Moncla, Tiago J.S. Lopes, Ryan McBride, Andrew J. Thompson, Wenjie Peng, Mai thi Q. Le, Anthony Hanson, Michael Lauck, Yuko Sakai-Tagawa, Shinya Yamada, Julie Eggenberger, David H. O’Connor, Yasuo Suzuki, Masato Hatta, James C. Paulson, Gabriele Neumann, Thomas C. Friedrich, Yoshihiro Kawaoka
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Awards: G1748285061, Mechanisms of influenza transmission bottlenecks: impact on viral evolution, Transmissibility of avian influenza viruses in mammals, G4742956268, G5746885287, Influenza virus receptors on human airway epithelial cells, G5867096395, G6359052, Virology Training Grant, Monitoring possible emergence of H5N1 influenza variants with higher pandemic potential in Egypt, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center Support
OpenAlex ID: W2806041621