Isolation and characterization of a naturally occurring parainfluenza 3 virus variant

Abstract

A parainfluenza 3 virus variant which failed to react with parainfluenza 3 virus-specific monoclonal antibodies from two commercial sources was isolated from a 14-month-old boy. Analysis of the coding region of the hemagglutinin- neuraminidase gene identified 36 nucleotide changes and 4 amino acid changes compared with a consensus sequence derived from strains isolated from 1957 through 1983. Two unique amino acid changes occurred at positions 174 and 283, which are close to identified epitopes in the hemagglutinin- neuraminidase protein. Ongoing viral surveillance to detect variants is important, particularly in regard to vaccine development.