Frequency of naturally occurring antibody to influenza virus antigenic variants selected in vitro with monoclonal antibody.
Antigenic variants of A/Texas/77 (H3N2) virus were selected in vitro using monoclonal antibody to virus haemagglutinin (HA). The antigenic variants and parental A/Texas/77 viruses were used to to evaluate the frequency of anti-HA antibodies in the sera of children and adults using single-radial-haemolysis (SRH) tests. Twenty to 41% of selected sera from adults, which contained antibody to the parental A/Texas/77 virus, failed to react with the different antigenic mutant viruses. A higher proportion of sera from children (37-58%) failed to react with the antigenic variants. Certain human sera and particularly those of children would appear to possess a more limited antibody repertoire to influenza HA, potentially allowing new antigenic variants to escape neutralization and spread in the community.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000032:analysis*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral