Could Environment Affect the Mutation of H1N1 Influenza Virus?

Abstract

H1N1 subtype influenza A viruses are the most common type of influenza A virus to infect humans. The two major outbreaks of the virus in 1918 and 2009 had a great impact both on human health and social development. Though data on their complete genome sequences have recently been obtained, the evolution and mutation of A/H1N1 viruses remain unknown to this day. Among many drivers, the impact of environmental factors on mutation is a novel hypothesis worth studying. Here, a geographically disaggregated method was used to explore the relationship between environmental factors and mutation of A/H1N1 viruses from 2000–2019. All of the 11,721 geo-located cases were examined and the data was analysed of six environmental elements according to the time and location (latitude and longitude) of those cases. The main mutation value was obtained by comparing the sequence of the influenza virus strain with the earliest reported sequence. It was found that environmental factors systematically affect the mutation of A/H1N1 viruses. Minimum temperature displayed a nonlinear, rising association with mutation, with a maximum ~15 °C. The effects of precipitation and social development index (nighttime light) were more complex, while population density was linearly and positively correlated with mutation of A/H1N1 viruses. Our results provide novel insight into understanding the complex relationships between mutation of A/H1N1 viruses and environmental factors.

Impact of population density and weather on COVID-19 pandemic and SARS-CoV-2 mutation frequency in Bangladesh

“…This study included both metrological parameters and host factors to determine correlation with frequency of mutations. Studies have found significant effects of environmental factors and UV radiation on the frequency of mutation of influenza virus and Newcastle disease virus [ 42 , 43 ]. This study reported strong correlation between average temperature and mutation frequency at ORF1ab-common mutation ( r s = 0.654), rare mutation ( r s = 0.598) and at S- D614G ( r s = 0.611); between maximum temperature and rare mutation at S ( r s = 0.658).…”

“…As of 18 August 2020 no other study has described the correlation between metrological parameters/host factors and frequency of mutations in novel coronaviruses. However, for other viruses like influenza and Newcastle disease viruses there are reports of environmental and host factors association with the virus mutations [ 42 , 43 ].…”

Associations between Temperature and Influenza Activity: A National Time Series Study in China

“…Flu-A virus seems to change its antigen more frequent than Flu-B virus [24], which may influence the sensitivity to climate variability. In a study investigating the association between environment and social conditions and H1N1 mutation, the author found that temperature was the main factor associated with the mutation of A/H1N1 viruses [25]. However, there is still limited information on the interaction of temperature, evolution of the influenza virus, and human activity on influenza transmission.…”

Antiviral effects of Atractyloside A on the influenza B virus (Victoria strain) infection

“…Antiviral drugs play a critical role in stopping the progression and spread of influenza, especially in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals (Han et al, 2018). However, the development of effective vaccines and drugs is challenged by the emergence of new virus subtypes due to constant mutation and genome segment rearrangements (Lyons and Lauring, 2018;Jiang et al, 2020). At present, the main types of drugs used in the clinical treatment of influenza are NA inhibitors and M2 channel ion blockers (Shen et al, 2015;Yen, 2016;Yin et al, 2021).…”