Rapid typing and subtyping of vaccine strains of the influenza virus with high resolution mass spectrometry.

The application of high-resolution mass spectrometry to type and subtype strains of the influenza virus within recent recommended vaccine formulations is described. Proteolytic digests of whole virus or separated hemagglutinin antigen generate conserved signature peptides of unique mass that can be used to characterise each component virus in a rapid and direct manner by the detection of their ions alone. The approach is demonstrated for two type A strains and one type B strain of human influenza viruses present in recommended seasonal vaccines in the northern and southern hemispheres from 2007 through 2010.