Breaking beta: deconstructing the parasite transmission function.
Breaking beta: deconstructing the parasite transmission function.
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2016.0084
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发表时间：
2017-05-05
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Lello J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
McCallum H;Fenton A;Hudson PJ;Lee B;Levick B;Norman R;Perkins SE;Viney M;Wilson AJ;Lello J
传播是每种寄生虫生命周期中的基本步骤，但它也是建模和量化最具挑战性的过程之一。在大多数宿主-寄生物模型中，传播过程由单个参数β封装。许多不同的生物过程和相互作用，作用于宿主和传染性生物体，都包含在这个单一的术语中。然而，这种高层次的抽象至少有两个不希望的后果。首先，对感染的动态行为至关重要的非线性和非均匀性表现得很差;其次，从现场数据估计透射系数β通常非常困难。在本文中，我们提出了一个概念模型，它打破了传输过程的组成部分。这种解构使我们能够识别在传输中产生非线性的情况，对个人和人群规模的紧急传输行为具有潜在影响。这种行为不能用传统的线性传输框架来解释。这种解构还为传播关键组成部分的经验估计提供了更清晰的联系，并能够构建灵活的模型，从而对微型和大型寄生虫传染病病原体的传播有统一的了解。这篇文章是主题问题“打开黑盒子：重新审视寄生虫传播的生态学和进化”的一部分。
Transmission is a fundamental step in the life cycle of every parasite but it is also one of the most challenging processes to model and quantify. In most host–parasite models, the transmission process is encapsulated by a single parameter β. Many different biological processes and interactions, acting on both hosts and infectious organisms, are subsumed in this single term. There are, however, at least two undesirable consequences of this high level of abstraction. First, nonlinearities and heterogeneities that can be critical to the dynamic behaviour of infections are poorly represented; second, estimating the transmission coefficient β from field data is often very difficult. In this paper, we present a conceptual model, which breaks the transmission process into its component parts. This deconstruction enables us to identify circumstances that generate nonlinearities in transmission, with potential implications for emergent transmission behaviour at individual and population scales. Such behaviour cannot be explained by the traditional linear transmission frameworks. The deconstruction also provides a clearer link to the empirical estimation of key components of transmission and enables the construction of flexible models that produce a unified understanding of the spread of both micro- and macro-parasite infectious disease agents. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Opening the black box: re-examining the ecology and evolution of parasite transmission’.