title: Evolution of an influenza pandemic in 13 countries from 5 continents monitored by protein microarray from neonatal screening bloodspots.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because of lack of worldwide standardization of influenza virus surveillance, comparison between countries of impact of a pandemic is challenging. For that, other approaches to allow internationally comparative serosurveys are welcome.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Here we explore the use of neonatal screening dried blood spots to monitor the trends of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pdm virus by the use of a protein microarray.
  
  
  METHODS
  We contacted colleagues from neonatal screening laboratories and asked for their willingness to participate in a study by testing anonymized neonatal screening bloodspots collected during the course of the pandemic. In total, 7749 dried blood spots from 13 countries in 5 continents where analyzed by using a protein microarray containing HA1 recombinant proteins derived from pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 as well as seasonal influenza viruses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results confirm the early start of the pandemic with extensive circulation in the US and Canada, when circulation of the new virus was limited in other parts of the world. The data collected from sites in Mexico suggested limited circulation of the virus during the early pandemic phase in this country. In contrast and to our surprise, an increase in seroprevalence early in 2009 was noted in the dataset from Argentina, suggestive of much more widespread circulation of the novel virus in this country than in Mexico.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that this uniform serological testing of samples from a highly standardized screening system offers an interesting opportunity for monitoring population level attack rates of widespread diseases outbreaks and pandemics.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: erwin.de.bruin@rivm.nl.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Bruin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Loeber
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Genetica, Hospital Espanol, Centro de Estudios Neonatales y Geneticos, Mexico State, Mexico.
authors.forename: G Martinez
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Naciional de Perinatologia, Mexico State, Mexico.
authors.forename: M L Granados
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cepeda
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Monterrey, Mexico.
authors.forename: M Rosario
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Torres-Sepúlveda
authors.affiliation: Fundación Bioquímica Argentina, Programa de Detección de Errores Congénitos, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: G J C
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Borrajo
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health, Biggs Laboratory, Albany, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caggana
authors.affiliation: Programme Québécois de Dépistage Néonatal Sanguin, CHU de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Giguere
authors.affiliation: North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Sapporo City Institute of Public Health, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukushi
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Children Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: A R Rama
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Screening Laboratory, Medical Genetic Unit, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khneisser
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Screening Unit, Genetics Department, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vilarinho
authors.affiliation: Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Centre for Inherited Metabolic Disease, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: von Döbeln
authors.affiliation: Universitäts Kinderklinik, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Torresani
authors.affiliation: Yorkhill Hospital, Scottish Newborn Screening Laboratory, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zutt
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schipper
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Elvers
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands; Department of Virology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M P G
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Koopmans
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D058873:Pandemics; D011247:Pregnancy; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus
keywords: Dried bloodspots; Influenza virus; Neonatal screening; Pandemic; Protein microarray