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Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infection in young children globally, but little is known about within-host RSV diversity. Here, we characterised within-host RSV populations using deep-sequencing data from 319 nasopharyngeal swabs collected during 2017-2020. RSV-B had lower consensus diversity than RSV-A at the population level, while exhibiting greater within-host diversity. Two RSV-B consensus sequences had an amino acid alteration (K68N) in the fusion (F) protein, which has been associated with reduced susceptibility to nirsevimab (MEDI8897), a novel RSV monoclonal antibody under development. In addition, several minor variants were identified in the antigenic sites of the F protein, one of which may confer resistance to palivizumab, the only licensed RSV monoclonal antibody. The differences in within-host virus populations emphasise the importance of monitoring for vaccine efficacy and may help to explain the different prevalences of monoclonal antibody-escape mutants between the two subgroups.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/s41467-021-25265-4

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nat Commun

Publication Date

26/08/2021

Volume

12

Keywords

Aged, Antigenic Variation, Female, Genetic Variation, Humans, Infant, Male, Mutation, Missense, Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human, Viral Proteins, Virus Replication