Interactions of multiple strain pathogen diseases in the presence of coinfection, cross immunity, and arbitrary strain diversity

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dc.contributor.authorAbu-Raddad, L. J.
dc.contributor.authorVan Der Ventel, B. I. S.
dc.contributor.authorFerguson, N. M.
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-15T16:05:18Z
dc.date.available2011-05-15T16:05:18Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractA model for coinfection in multiple strain infectious diseases is developed to incorporate coinfection statuses, immune and infection history, and cross immunity. It is solved for the symmetric interior equilibrium through the use of a ladder operator formalism inspired by quantum mechanical methods. We find that coinfection can fundamentally affects transmission dynamics with important epidemiologic and evolutionary consequences. It can significantly shift the distribution of age at infection for highly antigenically diverse pathogens so that in small host populations, an evolutionary strategy maximizing individual strain transmissibility might be less optimal than one which maximizes the total prevalence of all strains in the system. Alternatively, mechanisms which inhibit coinfection and thus increase total infection prevalence may be evolutionarily advantageous. © 2008 The American Physical Society.
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationPhysical Review Letters
dc.identifier.citation100
dc.identifier.citation16
dc.identifier.issn319007
dc.identifier.other10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.168102
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/13069
dc.subjectEpidemiology
dc.subjectImmunology
dc.subjectOptimization
dc.subjectStrain
dc.subjectCoinfection
dc.subjectStrain transmissibility
dc.subjectTransmission dynamics
dc.subjectPathogens
dc.titleInteractions of multiple strain pathogen diseases in the presence of coinfection, cross immunity, and arbitrary strain diversity
dc.typeArticle
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