Reduced cross-protection against influenza A(H3N2) subgroup 3C.2a and 3C.3a viruses among Finnish healthcare workers vaccinated with 2013/14 seasonal influenza vaccine

A Haveri; N Ikonen; I Julkunen; A Kantele; V J Anttila; E Ruotsalainen; H Nohynek; O Lyytikäinen; C Savolainen-Kopra

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2015.20.5.21028

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Reduced cross-protection against influenza A(H3N2) subgroup 3C.2a and 3C.3a viruses among Finnish healthcare workers vaccinated with 2013/14 seasonal influenza vaccine
A Haveri¹ , N Ikonen¹ , I Julkunen^1,2 , A Kantele³ , V J Anttila³ , E Ruotsalainen³ , H Nohynek⁴ , O Lyytikäinen⁵ , C Savolainen-Kopra¹
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Affiliations: ¹ Viral Infections Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland ² Department of Virology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland ³ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland ⁴ Vaccination Programme Unit, Department of Health Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland ⁵ Infectious Disease Control Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Correspondence:
A Haveri
anu.haveri thl.fi
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Citation style for this article: Haveri A, Ikonen N, Julkunen I, Kantele A, Anttila V J, Ruotsalainen E, Nohynek H, Lyytikäinen O, Savolainen-Kopra C. Reduced cross-protection against influenza A(H3N2) subgroup 3C.2a and 3C.3a viruses among Finnish healthcare workers vaccinated with 2013/14 seasonal influenza vaccine. Euro Surveill. 2015;20(5):pii=21028. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2015.20.5.21028 Received: 26 Jan 2015

Abstract

Virus strains in the seasonal influenza vaccine for the 2014/15 northern hemisphere season remained unchanged from those in 2013/14. During spring 2014, drifted influenza A(H3N2) viruses, subgroup 3C.3a, were detected in Finland; another subgroup, 3C.2a, emerged in the 2014/15 season and has predominated. We monitored antibody responses against vaccine and epidemic strains (2013/14 and 2014/15) among Finnish healthcare workers after influenza vaccination with the 2013/14 vaccine. The data suggest reduced cross-protection towards both subgroups of drifted A(H3N2) viruses.