Timely production of A/Fujian-like influenza vaccine matching the 2003-2004 epidemic strain may have been possible using Madin-Darby canine kidney cells.
Timely production and antigenic match with those of the epidemic strains are required for influenza vaccines. A/Fujian/411/2002-like (H3N2) virus was the main epidemic influenza virus during the 2003/2004 season in the northern hemisphere. But A/Fujian-like reassortant viruses were not available until more than one year later. We evaluated the A/Kumamoto/102/2002 strain, an A/Fujian/411/2002-like strain isolated in 2002, as a potential vaccine. We compared A/Kumamoto/102/2002 viruses isolated from the same clinical sample in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and eggs. Kumamoto/102/2002 isolated from eggs grew poorly and showed amino acid mutations of haemagglutinin. In contrast, A/Kumamoto/102/2002 isolated from MDCK cells grew well in MDCK suspension culture. The amino acid sequence of MDCK-derived A/Kumamoto virus was identical to that of A/Fujian/411/2002. These results suggest that culture in MDCK cells could have produced an influenza vaccine with a better antigenetic match to the predicted epidemic strain for the 2003/2004 season than the vaccine actually produced.
Makizumi
Keiichi
K
The Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute, Kyokushi, Kikuchi, Kumamoto 869-1298, Japan. makizumi@kaketsuken.or.jp
Kimachi
Kazuhiko
K
Fukada
Katsuhiko
K
Nishimura
Tomohiro
T
Kudo
Yasuhiro
Y
Goto
Shuro
S
Odagiri
Takato
T
Tashiro
Masato
M
Kino
Yoichiro
Y
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D002645:Chickens; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004531:Eggs; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D051379:Mice; D014779:Virus Replication
D006388:Hemagglutinins; D007252:Influenza Vaccines