Hemagglutinin Antibodies in the Polish Population during the 2019/2020 Epidemic Season

The aim of the study was to determine the level of antibodies against hemagglutinin of influenza viruses in the serum of subjects belonging to seven different age groups in the 2019/2020 epidemic season. The level of anti-hemagglutinin antibodies was tested using the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) test. The tests included 700 sera from all over Poland. Their results confirmed the presence of antibodies against the following influenza virus antigens: A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09 (48% of samples), A/Kansas/14/2017/ (H3N2) (74% of samples), B/Colorado/06/ 2017 Victoria line (26% of samples), and B/Phuket/3073/2013 Yamagata line (63% of samples). The level of antibodies against hemagglutinin varied between the age groups. The highest average (geometric mean) antibody titer (68.0) and the highest response rate (62%) were found for the strain A/Kansas/14/2017/ (H3N2). During the epidemic season in Poland, only 4.4% of the population was vaccinated.