Assessment of rat polyclonal antisera's suitability in hemagglutination inhibition assay for influenza surveillance and antigenic mapping

This paper presents comparative hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay data obtained using ferret or rat antisera to analyze influenza viruses. The results indicate that rat antisera can be successfully applied both for identification and for antigenic analysis of human influenza A and B viruses. Data gained with rat antisera were comparable to those obtained with ferret antisera. In-depth statistical analysis, based on Confusion Matrix analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, confirmed good coincidence between ferret antisera-based and rat antisera-based results. Two-dimensional antigenic mapping, based on HI assays using rat and ferret antisera, supported these findings. Both antisera types yielded identical antigenic attributions for the viruses analyzed, and both permitted visualization of contemporary human influenza virus evolutionary trends.