Bioinformatics technologies for the analysis of antigenic evolution of influenza viruses

Abstract

Human influenza viruses mutate from time to time, causing annual epidemics worldwide. The strong immune pressure in the human population selects a new variant every year, and the antigenic change is one of the primary reasons why vaccination is not a perfect measure to control seasonal influenza. Thus prediction of antigenic change of influenza A virus has been one of the major public health goals. In this review bioinformatics technologies that have been developed to achieve this goal were summarized.