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Virology

Influenza evolution with little host selection

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 159–160 (2019)Cite this article

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Influenza viruses undergo rapid antigenic evolution. Analysis of a large dataset of influenza virus sequences, using host age as a proxy for immune experience, shows no evidence for immune positive selection driving antigenic evolution in individual infected humans.

Seasonal influenza causes high morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that influenza caused between 1.6 million and 9.7 million illnesses and 12,000 to 56,000 deaths between 2010 and 20141. Circulating influenza viruses undergo rapid antigenic evolution, necessitating frequent updates to vaccine composition. However, the evolutionary processes governing antigenic change in influenza viruses remain difficult to understand, let alone predict. For example, it is unclear whether immune positive selection acting within the host plays a role in the evolution of seasonal influenza viruses. Writing in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Han et al.2 analyse a large publicly available influenza virus sequence dataset and report no signature of selective pressures on viral antigenic evolution at the level of individual infected hosts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, Madison, WI, USA

    Katarina M. Braun & Thomas C. Friedrich

  2. Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison, WI, USA

    Thomas C. Friedrich

Authors
  1. Katarina M. Braun
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  2. Thomas C. Friedrich
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Correspondence to Thomas C. Friedrich.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Braun, K.M., Friedrich, T.C. Influenza evolution with little host selection. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 159–160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0782-1

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