[Antigenic and biological characteristics of strains of the influenza A (H3N2) virus, similar to virus A/Hong Kong/68, isolated from children in the USSR in 1986].

Influenza A viruses (H3N2) isolated in the USSR, 1986, from children were antigenically similar to the prototype A/Hong Kong/1/68 strain. Alongside with the similarity with the latter virus, the new isolates had a number of distinctive features both in the antigenic specificity of hemagglutinin and in the structure of the polymerase complex proteins. All the foregoing allows to exclude laboratory contamination and suggests the possibility of circulation of such viruses among children.