Preventing an Antigenically Disruptive Mutation in Egg-Based H3N2 Seasonal Influenza Vaccines by Mutational Incompatibility (Cell Host & Microbe)

Wu et al. characterize the incompatibility between two major egg-adaptive mutations in human H3N2 virus hemagglutinin, G186V and L194P, which confer either minimal or significant antigenic change, respectively. This study suggests that the antigenically disruptive mutation L194P that occurs during egg-based influenza vaccine production can be prevented by mutational incompatibility.