ABSTRACT
Influenza surveillance was conducted in Pune, India in 2003. A total of 573 throat swabs/ nasal swabs (TS/NS) and 190 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) were collected from 763 in- and out-patients who were mostly children aged 0-16 years. TS/NS (507/573) and NPA (42/190) specimens were processed in MDCK cell cultures and identified with the hemagglutination inhibition test (HI). A total of 37 influenza viruses was isolated: twenty-three type A (H3N2) and 14 type B of the Yamagata lineage were isolated from 29 children and 8 adults. Three type A (H3N2) isolates were characterized as being similar to A/Panama/2007/99 like, A/Korea/770/2000 like, and B/Sichuan/379/99 like strains.
Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks , Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype/isolation & purification , Influenza B virus/isolation & purification , Influenza, Human/epidemiology , Influenza, Human/virology , Population Surveillance , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Time FactorsABSTRACT
A total of 293 patients with influenza like illness were investigated during the course of continuous surveillance on influenza in Pune, India in 2000. The throat/nasal swab specimens collected from these patients were inoculated in MDCK cell culture and influenza types A(H3N2), A(H1N1) and type B strains were isolated. They were identified as similar to the recently prevalent variant strains; A/Sydney/05/97(H3N2), A/New Caledonia/20/99(H1N1) and B/Sichuan/379/99. The latter two were the new variant strains reported for the first time in Pune. It is important to note that A(H1N1) strains were isolated in Pune during 2000 after a gap of 10 yr.
