Emergence and antigenic characterisation of influenza A(H3N2) viruses with hemagglutinin substitutions N158K and K189R during the 2024/25 influenza season
Influenza A(H3N2) viruses with N158K and K189R escaped recognition by antibodies raised against the 2024-2025 and 2025/2026 Northern Hemipshere vaccine strains in hemagglutination inhibition assays. These variants circulated widely in the Netherlands during the 2024-2025 influenza season, raising concerns about reduced vaccine-mediated protection if such variants would spread more broadly during 2025-2026 Northern Hemipshere season.
Authors
- Christine Carr
- Nicola S. Lewis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9496-4756)
- Mark Pronk
- Sarah L. James (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6969-1167)
- Mónica Galiano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7046-3762)
- Björn F. Koel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4692-3989)
- A Meijer
- Geert-Jan Boons
- Dirk Eggink
- Ruonan Liang
- Derek Smith
- Ron Fouchier
- Sam Turner
- Robert de Vries
- Pascal Lexmond
- Alexander Byrne
- Ruth Harvey
Institutions
- University of Georgia (US)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (NL)
- Evolutionary Genomics (United States) (US)
- National Influenza Center (MN)
- Carbohydrate Competence Center (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-02-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.10.704996
- Primary Topic
- Influenza Virus Research Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Francis Crick Institute
- Cancer Research UK
- Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport
- Medical Research Council