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Epidemiology and genetic evolutionary analysis of influenza virus among children in Hainan Island, China, 2021 -- 2023
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  • Meifang Xiao,
  • Afreen Banu,
  • Shengjie Shi,
  • Yibo Jia,
  • Gaoyu Wang,
  • Ruoyan Peng,
  • Jing An,
  • Yi Huang,
  • Xiaoyuan Hu,
  • Chuanning Tang,
  • Zihan Li,
  • Yi Niu,
  • Xiuying Tian,
  • Wanxin Deng,
  • Cheng Tang,
  • Jiang Du,
  • Xiuji Cui,
  • Jasper Chan,
  • Meng Chang,
  • Feifei Yin
Meifang Xiao
Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center
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Afreen Banu
Lincoln University College Faculty of Medicine
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Shengjie Shi
Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center
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Yibo Jia
Hainan Medical University
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Gaoyu Wang
Hainan Medical University
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Ruoyan Peng
Hainan Medical University
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Jing An
Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center
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Yi Huang
Hainan Medical University
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Xiaoyuan Hu
Hainan Medical University
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Chuanning Tang
Hainan Medical University
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Zihan Li
Hainan Medical University
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Yi Niu
Hainan Medical University
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Xiuying Tian
Hainan Medical University
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Wanxin Deng
Hainan Medical University
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Cheng Tang
Hainan Medical University
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Jiang Du
Hainan Medical University
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Xiuji Cui
Hainan Medical University
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Jasper Chan
The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
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Meng Chang
Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center
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Feifei Yin
Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, we continuously monitored the epidemiology of influenza virus among pediatric patients from January 2021 to December 2023 in Hainan Island, China. Methods In this study, we collected 54,974 nasopharyngeal swab samples for IAV testing and 53,151 samples for IBV testing from pediatric outpatients. Additionally, we also collected 19,687 nasopharyngeal swab samples from pediatric inpatients for IAV and IBV testing. Outpatient samples were screened for IVs infection by the colloidal gold method. Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing (tNGS) was used to detect Influenza virus infections in inpatients. Influenza virus types were identified by analyzing the HA/NA partial regions. Results The findings revealed a decrease in the infection rate of IBV over the specified period, while the infection rate of IAV exhibited a rising trend. Additionally, B/Victoria lineage was the dominant epidemic strain in 2021, while the epidemic strains in 2022 and 2023 underwent a dynamic transformation from A/H3N2 to A/H1N1. Phylogenetic analysis revealed close relationships among the circulating strains. Nonetheless, because the sample size is limited, additional research is required. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the predominant types of influenza viruses in the pediatric population are dynamically changing, and non-pharmaceutical intervention measures can significantly impact the infection rate of influenza.