Influenza A virus subtype H3N2

The Hong Kong flu broke out in 1968. She was the last major flu pandemic in the world in the period from 1968 to 1970 approximately 800,000 people died. Other numbers speak 750000-2 million dead. In Germany, approximately 30,000 people fell victim to the disease. Cause of the pandemic influenza virus A/H3N2 was the.

Because of the close relationship to the Asian flu of 1957, the course of the Hong Kong flu was mild, as the immune defense contained in most people or antibodies to the influenza type H2N2 similar.

The Hong Kong flu originated from a combination of avian influenza viruses with influenza viruses that already circulate among people. This process is called reassortment, and the result of genetic recombination of antigenic shift.