title: Co-infection with influenza A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 viruses in a patient with influenza-like illness during the winter/spring of 2008 in Shanghai, China.
abstract: Co-infection with different influenza viruses occurs naturally and plays an important role in epidemiology and pathogenicity. To monitor the prevalence of influenza viruses in humans during seasonal influenza epidemics in Shanghai, China, and to analyze the genetic characteristics of the viruses, 365 nasopharyngeal swabs collected from patients with influenza-like illness between January and April 2008, were tested by a colloidal gold assay, viral isolation in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, direct immunofluorescence assay and multiplex RT-PCR. The genetic characteristics of the viruses were analyzed by full-length PCR amplification of the HA segment. One case of co-infection with influenza A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 viruses was detected among the 7 cases of A/H1N1, 84 cases of A/H3N2 and 48 cases of influenza B virus during the winter/spring of 2008. All influenza A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 isolates were similar, including the co-infecting isolates. The present study demonstrates the possibility of natural co-infection with different types of influenza viruses in humans, which could provide the opportunity for the occurrence of viral genetic reassortment within the human respiratory tract.
authors.affiliation: The MOE Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Liwen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Lufang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Jixing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Qingwu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Huiguo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yiyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yuanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs; D019085:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016865:Reassortant Viruses / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D012367:RNA, Viral