Animal and human studies have demonstrated the importance of influenza A virus (IAV)-specific CD8<sup>+</sup> cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in heterosubtypic cross-protective immunity. Using peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained intermittently from healthy HLA-typed blood donors between 1999 and 2012, we were able to demonstrate that IAV-specific CTLs are long-lived. Intercurrent IAV infections transiently increase the frequency of functionally distinct subsets of IAV-specific CTLs, in particular effector and effector memory T cells.

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doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiv018, hdl.handle.net/1765/91182
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Department of Virology

van de Sandt, C., Hillaire, M., Geelhoed-Mieras, M., Osterhaus, A., Fouchier, R., & Rimmelzwaan, G. (2015). Human influenza a virus-specific CD8+ T-cell response is long-lived. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 212(1), 81–85. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv018