title: Epidemiological and Virological Characterization of Influenza B Virus Infections.
abstract: While influenza A viruses comprise a heterogeneous group of clinically relevant influenza viruses, influenza B viruses form a more homogeneous cluster, divided mainly into two lineages: Victoria and Yamagata. This divergence has complicated seasonal influenza vaccine design, which traditionally contained two seasonal influenza A virus strains and one influenza B virus strain. We examined the distribution of the two influenza B virus lineages in Israel, between 2011-2014, in hospitalized and in non-hospitalized (community) influenza B virus-infected patients. We showed that influenza B virus infections can lead to hospitalization and demonstrated that during some winter seasons, both influenza B virus lineages circulated simultaneously in Israel. We further show that the influenza B virus Yamagata lineage was dominant, circulating in the county in the last few years of the study period, consistent with the anti-Yamagata influenza B virus antibodies detected in the serum samples of affected individuals residing in Israel in the year 2014. Interestingly, we found that elderly people were particularly vulnerable to Yamagata lineage influenza B virus infections.
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Sivan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharabi
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yaron
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Drori
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Micheli
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Nehemya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orzitzer
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Ravit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bassal
authors.affiliation: The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, 52621, Israel.|Department of Family and Community Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.
authors.forename: Aharona
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glatman-Freedman
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.|The Israel Center for Disease Control, Israel Ministry of Health, Tel-Hashomer, 52621, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shohat
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, 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
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Musa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hindiyeh
authors.affiliation: Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 52621, Israel.|Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mandelboim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056738:Cross Protection / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009981:Influenza B virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral