See Also: Antigenic drift(health)
Antigenic drift(medicine)
Antigenic(medicine)
Antigenic determinant(health)
antigenic shift(medicine)
antigenic modulation(medicine)
antigenic determinant(medicine)
antigenic complex(medicine)
antigenic competition(medicine)
Antigenic shift(health)

Antigenic drift (health)


A mechanism for variation by viruses that involves the accumulation of mutations within the antibody-binding sites so that the resulting viruses cannot be inhibited well by antibodies against previous strains making it easier for them to spread throughout a partially immune population. Antigenic drift occurs in both influenza A and influenza B viruses.