الفهرس 
Genetic and antigenic characterization of Influenza B viruses circulating in Egypt
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Abstract
Since 2000, two lineages of influenza B viruses, Victoria and Yamagata, have been
circulating at similar frequencies worldwide. Little is known about the circulation
of those viruses in Egypt. Here, influenza B viruses (IBVs) isolated in Egypt were
genetically and antigenically analyzed during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019
influenza seasons. This study aims to describe the epidemiology of influenza B virus
infections in Egypt, 2017–2019. This was performed through a household
prospective cohort study on influenza infections among 2400 individuals from five
villages. When a study participant had influenza like symptoms, a nasal swab and
an oropharyngeal swab were obtained and tested by RTPCR for influenza B
infections. A serum sample was obtained from all participants annually to detect
neutralizing antibodies using microneutralization assay. 9.1% of subjects were
positive for influenza B viruses during season 2017–2018 mostly among preschoolers and 7.6% were positive during the season 2018–2019 with higher risk
in females, potentially due to mothers being infected after contact with their
children. The overall seroprevalence among the participants was 53.2% and 52.2%
against the Victoria and Yamagata lineages respectively, the majority of
seropositive participants were students. Multivariate analysis showed that age and
having chronic diseases were the strongest predictors of infection. The results show
that both influenza B lineages circulated between 2017 and 2020 in Egypt almost in
equal proportion. Encouraging the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccines is
recommended.