Five challenges in evolution and infectious diseases

C.J.E. Metcalf; R.B. Birger; S. Funk; R.D. Kouyos; J.O. Lloyd-Smith; V.A.A. Jansen

doi:10.1016/j.epidem.2014.12.003

Epidemics (Mar 2015)

Five challenges in evolution and infectious diseases

C.J.E. Metcalf,
R.B. Birger,
S. Funk,
R.D. Kouyos,
J.O. Lloyd-Smith,
V.A.A. Jansen

Affiliations

C.J.E. Metcalf: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
R.B. Birger: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
S. Funk: Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
R.D. Kouyos: Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
J.O. Lloyd-Smith: Division of Epidemiology and Population Studies, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
V.A.A. Jansen: School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2014.12.003
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. C
pp. 40 – 44

Abstract

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Evolution is a key aspect of the biology of many pathogens, driving processes ranging from immune escape to changes in virulence. Because evolution is inherently subject to feedbacks, and because pathogen evolution plays out at scales ranging from within-host to between-host and beyond, evolutionary questions provide special challenges to the modelling community. In this article, we provide an overview of five challenges in modelling the evolution of pathogens and their hosts, and point to areas for development, focussing in particular on the issue of linking theory and data.

Published in Epidemics

ISSN: 1755-4365 (Print); 1878-0067 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Infectious and parasitic diseases
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/epidemics/

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