title: Emergence of a novel subclade of influenza A(H3N2) virus in London, December 2016 to January 2017.
abstract: We report the molecular investigations of a large influenza A(H3N2) outbreak, in a season characterised by sharp increase in influenza admissions since December 2016. Analysis of haemagglutinin (HA) sequences demonstrated co-circulation of multiple clades (3C.3a, 3C.2a and 3C.2a1). Most variants fell into a novel subclade (proposed as 3C.2a2); they possessed four unique amino acid substitutions in the HA protein and loss of a potential glycosylation site. These changes potentially modify the H3N2 strain antigenicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Virology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.|Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harvala
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Virology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jade
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raffle
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.|NIHR UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ruth Bridget
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ferns
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zisis
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kozlakidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kellam
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Immunity, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Deenan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pillay
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Informatics, Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Virology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.|NIHR UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.|Department of Population, Policy and Practice, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nastouli
authors.affiliation: The members of these networks are listed at the end of the article.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D058872:Epidemics; D005260:Female; D040961:Genetic Drift; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006031:Glycosylation; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: influenza; molecular; next generation sequencing; outbreak