Highlights • Very low antiviral resistance in Irish 2018/2019 influenza season. • Supports current antiviral use. • Continued molecular neuraminidase surveillance essential for resistance emergence. • Surveillance also useful for monitoring vaccine effectiveness. • Mutations associated with reduced antibody effectiveness detected. Neuraminidase inhibitor (NAI) resistance levels globally are currently low. However, as antivirals are increasingly being used, and even in the absence of selective pressure, resistance may increase or emerge. The neuraminidase (NA) genes from influenza viruses from the Irish 2018/2019 season were sequenced: 1/144 (0.7 %) A(H1N1)pdm09 sequences harboured a substitution associated with highly-reduced susceptibility to NAIs. The very low NAI resistance we describe supports current Irish NAI use recommendations. However, continued monitoring is essential. NA characterisation also identified substitutions associated with reduced antibody effectiveness, thereby highlighting the potential of NA sequence surveillance as an additional tool for investigating influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE).
【저자키워드】 Influenza, Molecular epidemiology, Ireland, vaccine effectiveness, laboratory surveillance, antiviral resistance,