Antigenic variation of respiratory suncytical virus isolated in Wuhan from 1988 to 1992

Indirect immunofluorescense and Western-blot methods with seven home-made McAbs against RSV were used to distinguish RSV strains isolated in Wuhan from 1 988 to 1 992.These strains were distinguished as type A and B,further as subgruup B_1 and B_2.The RSV epidemic patterns in Wuhan were different from those of Europe and America,but were simi-lar to those of Japan.The prevalence of the two types even varied in two districts of Wuhan in the same year.It suggests the that RSV outbreaks should be regional and temporal clust-ing. No major differences in age and sex were found between the infants and young children infected with either type.