HLA-A*02 is a Protective Allele for Influenza Virus Infection in the Population of Northeast India: A Case-Control Study

HLA-A*02 allele has been considered as a protective allele for disease progression in different population worldwide. However, its protective effect on influenza virus infection in Northeast Indian population remains unknown. To investigate the association, influenza-like illness (ILI) patients were enrolled in the present study. HLA-A*02 frequency was considerably higher in non-influenza control group (35/80, 43.75%) compared to influenza infected cases (17/80, 21.25%) with P-value = 0.003. The allele frequency of HLA-A*02 haplotypes were also higher in controls (25/80, 31.25%) compared to cases (16/80, 20%) with P-value = 0.146. Conclusively, the present study reveals that HLAA*02 may be a protective allele against influenza virus infection in Northeast Indian population. Further studies on HLA-A*02 in a larger study population size might be of potential interests.