Research on the immunity status of the Turin population with respect to 3 recent variations of influenza A virus

Measurement of influenza A/Torino/1/75, A/MRC 11 and A/Scotland/840/74 viruses h.i. antibodies in a sample of the Turin population represented by 200 non-vaccinated adults, showed that the percentage of subjects carrying antibiodies at the minimum titre of 1/10 was respectively 83, 78,5 and 52 and respective mean titres were 1/65, 1/65 and 1/43. These results confirm the antigenic affinity between A/Torino/1/75 and A/MRC/11 strains and their diversity with respect to A/Scotland/840/74. It is emphasized that vaccines should include the Scottish variant of the influenza virus also.