If an influenza vaccine elicits a weak germinal center response due to a novel viral strain, which consequence regarding antibody affinity maturation is most likely?

💡 Explanation

A weak germinal center response implies suboptimal T-cell help and antigen presentation, because this limits the opportunities for B cells to undergo affinity maturation. Therefore, B cells will likely produce antibodies with reduced affinity for the influenza antigen, rather than exhibiting faster mutation or class switching to IgE under these conditions.

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