A Review on the Seasonal and Pandemic Potential of Influenza a(H3N2) virus

Abstract

Influenza is considered an infectious respiratory disease; in humans, and the symptoms vary from a mild respiratory disease confined to the upper respiratory tract and characterized by fever, sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, muscle pain, and fatigue. Severe cases often end in lethal pneumonia. Although these infections are characterized by annual seasonal epidemics and sporadic and unpredictable cases, global pandemic outbreaks also occur involving influenza A virus strains of zoonotic origin. The H3N2 subtype is affiliated with severe influenza seasons. H3N2 influenza viruses pre-dominated during 3 of the last 5 quite severe influenza seasons.Pandemic influenza has been reported to occur every 10–50 years and is characterized by the introduction of a new influenza A virus strain that is antigenically different from previously circulating strains. Both serological and molecular detection techniques are available for the diagnosis including PCR, ICT, Virus isolation in cell culture, etc. Despite the presence of standard techniques, optimal prevention and treatment of Influenza are deemed a herculean task owing to the rate of mutation in these viruses which is high. Improvement in the vaccine efficiency and pandemic risk assessment for the currently-dominant H3N2 influenza viruses is possible only upon the proper study of these viruses. This review provides a detailed into the various aspects of the H3N2 strains and on their potential in causingseasonal and pandemic outbreaks.