Emerging triple-reassortant influenza C virus with household-associated infection during an influenza A(H3N2) outbreak, China, 2022

ABSTRACT

Recent research have shown that influenza C virus (ICV) has a possible higher clinical impact than previously thought. But knowledge about ICV is limited compared with influenza A and B viruses, due to poor systematic surveillance and inability to propagate. Herein, a case infected with triple reassortant ICV was identified during an influenza A(H3N2) outbreak, which was the first report of ICV infection in mainland China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that this ICV was triple reassortant. Serological evidence revealed that the index case might be related to family-clustering infection. Therefore, it is essential to heighten surveillance for the prevalence and variation of ICV in China, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Influenza C virus
• China
• family clustering
• infection
• triple reassortant

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Guangzhou (GZCDC-ECHR-2022P0055).

Data availability

The full-genome sequences of C/Guangzhou/05166E2/2022 have been deposited in GISAID under the accession number EPI2110306-EPI2110312.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2019A1515011510), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (No. 202102100001 and No. 202201010794) and the Key Project of Medicine Discipline of Guangzhou (No. 2021-2023-11).