High epidemic burden of RSV disease coinciding with genetic alterations causing amino acid substitutions in the RSV G-protein during the 2016/2017 season in The Netherlands

Laura M. Vos, Jan Jelrik Oosterheert, Sacha D. Kuil, Marco Viveen, Louis J. Bont, Andy I.M. Hoepelman, Frank E.J. Coenjaerts

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: We found amino acid substitutions in the Gglycoprotein of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A during the 2016/2017 epidemic in The Netherlands. Objectives: We evaluated whether these alterations led to increased RSV incidence and disease burden. Study design: We sequenced the gene encoding the G-protein of prospectively collected clinical specimens from secondary care adult patients testing positive for RSV during the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 epidemic RSV season. We evaluated associations between genetic, clinical and epidemiological data. Results: We included 49 RSV strains. In 2016/2017 28 strains were included, 20 community acquired RSV-A, 5 hospital acquired RSV-A and 3 community acquired RSV-B. In 2017/2018 21 strains were included, 8 community acquired RSV-A and 13 community acquired RSV-B. G-proteins of 10 out of the 20 community acquired 2016/2017 RSV-A strains shared a set of eight novel amino acid substitutions of which seven in mucin-like regions 1 and 2 and one in the heparin binding domain. This genetic variant was no longer detected among 2017/2018 RSV-A strains. Among patients carrying the novel RSV-A strain-type, 30% died. Conclusions: A set of eight amino acid substitutions was found in 50% of the 2016/2017 community acquired RSV-A G-proteins. This combination of substitutions was globally never observed before. The appearance of this new strain-type coincided with an increased RSV peak in The Netherlands and was associated with higher disease severity. The transient character of this epidemic strain-type suggests rapid clearance of this lineage in our study community.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-26
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Clinical Virology
Volume112
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • G-glycoprotein
  • Genetics
  • Mutations
  • RSV

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'High epidemic burden of RSV disease coinciding with genetic alterations causing amino acid substitutions in the RSV G-protein during the 2016/2017 season in The Netherlands'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this