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Epidemiology and molecular characterization of co-circulating influenza A/H3N2 virus variants in children: Houston, Texas, 1997–8

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2003

F. T. O'DONNELL ,
F. M. MUNOZ ,
R. L. ATMAR ,
L. Y. HWANG ,
G. J. DEMMLER  and
W. P. GLEZEN
F. T. O'DONNELL
Affiliation:
The University of Texas–Houston School of Public Health, 1200 Hermann Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
F. M. MUNOZ
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
R. L. ATMAR
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
L. Y. HWANG
Affiliation:
The University of Texas–Houston School of Public Health, 1200 Hermann Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
G. J. DEMMLER
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA Diagnostic Virology Laboratory, Texas Children's Hospital, 6701 Fannin, Clinical Care Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
W. P. GLEZEN
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Abstract

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Co-circulating variants of influenza A/H3N2 viruses in children were studied in Houston, Texas between October 1997 and March 1998 to assess the effects of a new variant strain on the severity of clinical illness. Influenza A virus was isolated from the nasal wash or nasal aspirate specimens collected from children at two tertiary care hospitals, and 271 isolates were available for variant-specific subtyping using RT–PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. We classified 124 (46%) influenza viruses as A/H3N2/Wuhan/359/95-like and 137 (50%) as A/H3N2/Sydney/05/97-like. Ten (4%) virus isolates could not be classified. Ill contacts in the household were reported more frequently in patients infected with A/Sydney-like viruses than in those infected with A/Wuhan-like viruses (85% vs. 71%, respectively, P=0·02). There were no differences in other demographic variables among children infected with these strains. This study found no increase in illness severity in children infected with a newly emerging strain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 130 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 521 - 531
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press