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Influenza viruses can change in two different ways.
One is called "antigenic drift." These are small
changes in the virus that happen continually over time.
Antigenic drift produces new virus strains that may not be
recognized by the body's immune system.
The other type of change is called "antigenic shift."
Antigenic shift is an abrupt, major change in the influenza A
viruses, resulting in new hemagglutinin and/or new hemagglutinin
and neuraminidase proteins in influenza viruses that infect
humans. Type A viruses undergo both kinds of changes; influenza
type B viruses change only by the more gradual process of
antigenic drift. |
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