Evaluation of multivalent H2 influenza pandemic vaccines in mice

Subtype H2 Influenza A viruses were the cause of a severe pandemic in the winter of 1957. However, this subtype no longer circulates in humans and is no longer included in seasonal vaccines. As a result, individuals under 50 years of age are immunologically naïve. H2 viruses persist in aquatic birds, which were a contributing source for the 1957 pandemic, and have also been isolated from swine. Reintroduction of the H2 via zoonotic transmission has been identified as a pandemic risk, so pre-pandemic planning should include preparation and testing of vaccine candidates against this subtype. We evaluated the immunogenicity of two inactivated, whole virus influenza vaccines (IVV) in mice: a monovalent IVV containing human pandemic virus A/Singapore/1/1957 (H2N2), and a multivalent IVV containing human A/Singapore/1/1957, avian A/Duck/HongKong/319/1978 (H2N2), and swine A/Swine/Missouri/2124514/2006 (H2N3) viruses. While both vaccines induced protective immunity compared to naïve animals, the multivalent formulation was advantageous over the monovalent in terms of level and breadth of serological responses, neutralization of infectious virus, and reduction of clinical disease and respiratory tissue replication in mice. Therefore, multivalent pandemic H2 vaccines containing diverse viruses from animal reservoirs, are a potential option to improve the immune responses in a pre-pandemic scenario where antigenic identity cannot be predicted.