Polymerase Changes in 2010 pH1N1 In Georgia



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H1N1 Consulting Paradigm Shift Viral Evolution Intervention Monitoring Vaccine Screening Vaccine Development Expression Profiling Drug Discovery Custom Therapies Patents	Audio:Feb13 Feb18 Mar18 Mar31 twitter Live feed of underlying pandemic map data here Commentary Polymerase Changes in 2010 pH1N1 In Georgia Recombinomics Commentary 20:46 April 14, 2010 The CDC has released a series of sequences at GISAID, most of which were from 2010. Included were 7 2010 HA sequences from the US state of Georgia, which has reported an uptick on hospitalized cases. The Georgia sequences were collected in January and February, and six of seven (two were identical and appeared to be from the same patient) formed a readily distinguishable sub-clade. Full sequences were generated for two isolates (which appear to be from the same patient, 27F, collected in February). Like the HA sequences, most changes were synonymous. In the sequences from A/Georgia/4/2010 there was one non-synonymous change in PB1 and two in PB2. These changes were also in earlier pH1N1 collections (including Mexico City, Ontario, and several US states, NY, TX, WI). However, in these other locations(see list here, here, here), this sub-clade was not dominant, as it was in the recently released sequences from Georgia. The PB2 change and one of the PB1 changes has been seen previously in seasonal flu, raising concerns that these changes represent adaptations to humans, which may have contributed to the increase in hospitalizations reported in Georgia. The clinical data from the patients was not included, and none were from March, when the spike in hospitalized cases was reported, so these sequences may have acquired additional changes. Similarly clinical data was not available fro the earlier cases with theses polymerase changes. However, acquisition of human polymorphisms by pH1N1 raise concerns that such changes can lead to more efficient replication in a human host, leading to high viral loads which would likely create more severe cases and deaths. More information on the clinical status of these patients, and full sequences from more patients, would be useful. Media Links Recombinomics Presentations Recombinomics Publications Recombinomics Paper at Nature Precedings

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