Antibody status to influenza A/Singapore/1/57(H2N2) in Finland during a period of outbreaks caused by H3N2 and H1N1 subtype viruses.

The incidence of haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody (titre greater than or equal to 12) to influenza A/Singapore/1/57(H2N2) in sera collected from a Finnish population in the summer of 1981 was 58%. Subjects born after 1968 were essentially seronegative, and a comparable low HI antibody status was also recorded among the elderly, the lowest being in people born during the period 1901-10. A small increase in antibody titre to the H2N2 virus was observed in the different age groups after infections with the H3N2, but not the H1N1, subtype influenza A viruses. The heterotypic response, which could be due to HI or NA antibodies, was restricted almost exclusively to subjects already exhibiting this antibody in acute phase sera. Moreover, the anamnestic boosting was not as strong as that described in earlier studies from samples collected at the beginning of the present era of H3N2 viruses. At population level, the HI antibody status to H2N2 was about the same at the beginning and end of the follow-up period which covered eight epidemic seasons. The results are discussed with respect to the doctrine of 'original antigenic sin' and to the threat of re-emergence of the H2N2 viruses.