Agglutination of human O erythrocytes by influenza A(H1N1) viruses freshly isolated from patients.

The hemagglutinin titers of 10 influenza A (H1N1) viruses were examined using the erythrocytes of several species. Human O erythrocytes showed the highest agglutination titer to the viruses, whereas chicken erythrocytes showed a low titer. These findings were noted for at least 10 passages by serial dilutions of the viruses in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. All influenza A(H1N1) viruses, plaque-cloned directly from throat-washing specimens of patients, also agglutinated human O but not chicken erythrocytes. The results of a hemadsorption test indicated that chicken erythrocytes possess less affinity to MDCK cells infected with the A/Osaka City/2/88(H1N1) stain than to those infected with the A/Yamagata/120/86(H1N1) strain which is used as an inactivated influenza vaccine in Japan. However, there were no significant differences between the A/Osaka City/2/88 and the A/Yamagata/120/86 strains in the hemagglutination inhibition test. Since human O erythrocytes have high agglutination activity to influenza A(H1N1) and also to A(H3N2) and B viruses in MDCK cells, these erythrocytes may be useful for the serological diagnosis of influenza.