Phylogenetic analysis of influenza B virus in Taiwan, 1997 to 2001

Seventeen strains of influenza B virus were isolated and identified from 1997 to 2001. Throat swabs were collected in children who presented in medical centers in both central and northern parts of Taiwan. To clarify the molecular characteristics of these isolates, both partial hemagglutinin (HA) gene and nonstructural (NS) gene nucleotide sequences were cloned and subjected to nucleotide sequence analysis. The phylogenetic analysis of the HA gene revealed that 16 out of 17 strains were similar to B/Yamagata/16/88-like virus, but grouped together to form an independent cluster. Only one strain, B/Taiwan/21706/97, was similar to the B/Victoria/2/87-like lineage. In addition, all isolates, except for B/Taiwan/21706/97, were similar to B/Beijing/184/93 and B/Yamanashi/166/98, which were chosen as the recommended vaccine strains in 1999 and 2001. In contrast, the NS gene of these isolates was evolved from B/Guangdong/8/93. Based on the accumulation of antigenic drift in our isolates, we conclude that influenza B virus is still prevalent in Taiwan and the accumulation of nucleotide mutations indicated that our isolates form a new cluster that evolved from the YA88 lineage.