News Scan for Aug 23, 2019 - H3N2 flu and antiviral susceptibility

A study in Emerging Infectious Diseases describes how a Japanese infant with no baloxavir exposure contracted an H3N2 strain of influenza with reduced susceptibility to baloxavir. The researchers said that, during the 2018-19 influenza season in Japan, they detected 32 mutant influenza A(H3N2) viruses the conferred reduced susceptibility to baloxavir, 4 of which were isolated from children under the age of 12 without prior baloxavir exposure. 'Baloxavir susceptibility of influenza viruses, especially among infected children