RESEARCH ARTICLE
Influenza A H1N1pdm 2009 Virus in Paraguay: Nucleotide Point Mutations in Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase Genes are not Associated with Drug Resistance
Emilio E Espínola*, 1, Alberto A Amarilla 1, 2, Magaly Martínez 1, Víctor H Aquino 2, Graciela Russomando 1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 9
Last Page: 13
Publisher Id: TOVJ-8-9
DOI: 10.2174/1874357901408010009
Article History:
Received Date: 13/6/2014Revision Received Date: 15/7/2014
Acceptance Date: 18/7/2014
Electronic publication date: 29 /9/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Influenza virus is associated with upper respiratory tract infections. The fourth influenza pandemic was declared in 2009. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus circulating in Paraguay. Nasal swabs were collected from 181 patients with flu symptoms managed at the Hospital of the Medical School in Asunción, Paraguay, between August and October 2009. Virus detection was carried out by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, followed by sequencing of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes, and phylogenetic analysis. H1N1pdm09 was detected in 14.9% (27/181) of the suspected cases. Analysis of 13 samples showed that these viruses the clustered in a single genetic group. Neither the mutation related to exacerbation of disease (D239G in hemagglutinin) nor that related to antiviral resistance (H275Y in neuraminidase), both detected in neighboring countries, were found. This genetic analysis of H1N1pdm09 will help to understand the spread of the disease.




