MLchartDataset catalogue

Viral Drift

Term · Environment · MLC-T-ENV-029736

One process in which influenza virus undergoes mutation. The amount of change can be subtle or dramatic, but eventually as drift occurs, a new variant strain will become dominant. This process allows influenza viruses to change and re-infect people repeatedly through their lifetime and is the reason influenza virus strains in vaccine must be updated each year.

Table 1. Record
IdentifierMLC-T-ENV-029736
FieldEnvironment
ReferencesCDC Flu.gov Glossary
Record as JSON 
{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-029736",
  "term": "Viral Drift",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "One process in which influenza virus undergoes mutation. The amount of change can be subtle or dramatic, but eventually as drift occurs, a new variant strain will become dominant. This process allows influenza viruses to change and re-infect people repeatedly through their lifetime and is the reason influenza virus strains in vaccine must be updated each year.",
  "references": [
    "CDC Flu.gov Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/viral-drift/"
}

Record 29,736 of 30,736 in Environment terminology (MLC-0121). Request the full dataset.