Molecular surveillance of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy from May 2009 to February 2010: association between haemagglutinin mutations and clinical outcome

S Puzelli; M Facchini; M A De Marco; A Palmieri; D Spagnolo; S Boros; F Corcioli; D Trotta; P Bagnarelli; A Azzi; A Cassone; G Rezza; M G Pompa; F Oleari; I Donatelli; the Influnet Surveillance Group for Pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 Influenza Virus in Italy

doi:10.2807/ese.15.43.19696-en

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Molecular surveillance of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy from May 2009 to February 2010: association between haemagglutinin mutations and clinical outcome
S Puzelli¹ , M Facchini¹ , M A De Marco¹ , A Palmieri¹ , D Spagnolo¹ , S Boros¹ , F Corcioli² , D Trotta³ , P Bagnarelli³ , A Azzi² , A Cassone¹ , G Rezza¹ , M G Pompa⁴ , F Oleari⁴ , I Donatelli¹ , the Influnet Surveillance Group for Pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 Influenza Virus in Italy⁵
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Affiliations: ¹ Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS), Rome, Italy ² Department of Public Health, University of Florence, Italy ³ Unit of Virology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy ⁴ Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy ⁵ The members of the group are listed at the end of the article

Correspondence:
S Puzelli
simona.puzelli iss.it
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Citation style for this article: Puzelli S, Facchini M, De Marco M A, Palmieri A, Spagnolo D, Boros S, Corcioli F, Trotta D, Bagnarelli P, Azzi A, Cassone A, Rezza G, Pompa M G, Oleari F, Donatelli I, the Influnet Surveillance Group for Pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 Influenza Virus in Italy. Molecular surveillance of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy from May 2009 to February 2010: association between haemagglutinin mutations and clinical outcome . Euro Surveill. 2010;15(43):pii=19696. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.15.43.19696-en Received: 06 Oct 2010

Abstract

Haemagglutinin sequences of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy were examined, focusing on amino acid changes at position 222 because of its suggested pathogenic relevance. Among 169 patients, the D222G substitution was detected in three of 52 (5.8%) severe cases and in one of 117 (0.9%) mild cases, whereas the D222E mutation was more frequent and evenly distributed in mild (31.6%) and severe cases (38.4%). A cluster of D222E viruses among school children confirms reported human-to-human transmission of viruses mutated at amino acid position 222.