Population biology of infectious diseases: Part I

Nature. 1979 Aug 2;280(5721):361-7. doi: 10.1038/280361a0.

Abstract

If the host population is taken to be a dynamic variable (rather than constant, as conventionally assumed), a wider understanding of the population biology of infectious diseases emerges. In this first part of a two-part article, mathematical models are developed, shown to fit data from laboratory experiments, and used to explore the evolutionary relations among transmission parameters. In the second part of the article, to be published in next week's issue, the models are extended to include indirectly transmitted infections, and the general implications for infectious diseases are considered.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
  • Bacterial Infections / immunology
  • Communicable Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Communicable Diseases / immunology
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Ectromelia, Infectious / epidemiology
  • Ectromelia, Infectious / immunology
  • Mice
  • Models, Biological
  • Pasteurella Infections / epidemiology
  • Pasteurella Infections / immunology
  • Population Dynamics*
  • Virus Diseases / epidemiology
  • Virus Diseases / immunology