title: Ineffectiveness of the 2014-2015 H3N2 influenza vaccine.
abstract: The seasonal influenza vaccine is currently the most effective preventive modality against influenza infection. Nasopharyngeal samples of vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients presenting with Influenza-like-illness (ILI) were collected from over 20 outpatient clinics located in different geographic parts of Israel and were tested for the presence of influenza viruses (influenza A and influenza B). Here we show, that in the 2014-2015 season, the vaccine that included the A/Texas/50/2012 H3N2 virus was ineffective. Significant numbers of individuals vaccinated with the 2014-2015 vaccine, of all ages, were infected with influenza A (H3N2), manifesting similar symptoms as the non-vaccinated group. We further demonstrate that the Israeli circulating influenza A(H3N2) virus was different than that included in the 2014-2015 northern hemisphere vaccine, and that antibodies elicited by this vaccine were significantly less efficient in neutralizing influenza A(H3N2) infection.
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mandelboim
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|Departments of Pediatrics and Family and Community Medicine, Valhalla, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Aharona
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glatman-Freedman
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Yaron
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Drori
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Hilda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sherbany
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Rakefet
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pando
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sefty
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Hila
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zadka
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shohat
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.|Ariel University Centre, Ariel, Israel.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Ella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mendelson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004285:Dogs; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D007557:Israel; D061985:Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Immune response; Immunity; Immunology and Microbiology Section; influenza; vaccine