Antigenic drift of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase in seasonal H1N1 influenza viruses from Saudi Arabia in 2014 to 2015.

Antigenic drift of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins of the influenza virus cause a decrease in vaccine efficacy. Since the information about the evolution of these viruses in Saudi is deficient so we investigated the genetic diversity of circulating H1N1 viruses. Nasopharyngeal aspirates/swabs collected from 149 patients hospitalized with flu-like symptoms during 2014 and 2015 were analyzed.

A novel non-toxic combined CTA1-DD and ISCOMS adjuvant vector for effective mucosal immunization against influenza virus.

Here we demonstrate that by using non-toxic fractions of saponin combined with CTA1-DD we can achieve a safe and above all highly efficacious mucosal adjuvant vector. We optimized the construction, tested the requirements for function and evaluated proof-of-concept in an influenza A virus challenge model. We demonstrated that the CTA1-3M2e-DD/ISCOMS vector provided 100% protection against mortality and greatly reduced morbidity in the mouse model.