Explaining the complex lives of parasites: within-host dynamics, parasite plasticity, and life history evolution

尽管对传染病进行了几个世纪的研究，但对于重要的生态和进化问题，例如：哪些因素决定了寄生虫特征的进化，从而决定了对宿主的伤害和传染性？寄生虫和宿主之间的相互作用如何以及为什么在不同的寄生虫物种中有所不同，也就是说，为什么有些疾病严重而另一些则不那么严重？药物或疫苗如何影响寄生虫的特性及其与宿主的相互作用？全球疾病统计数据突出了回答这些问题的重要性：传染病目前占全世界死亡人数的六分之一，占发展中区域死亡人数的二分之一（世卫组织）。此外，在加拿大，我们面临着来自耐药细菌（例如MRSA）的日益增长的威胁，这是生态相互作用和进化反应的结果。因此，更好地了解寄生虫进化生态学对于设计有效的治疗和控制策略至关重要。

Despite centuries of research into infectious diseases, there are no satisfying answers to important ecological and evolutionary questions, such as: Which factors have shaped the evolution of parasite traits that determine harm caused to hosts and infectiousness? How and why do interactions between parasites and hosts differ across parasite species, i.e., why are some diseases severe and others less so? How might drugs or vaccines affect parasite traits and their interactions with hosts? Global disease statistics highlight the importance of answering these questions: infectious diseases currently account for 1 in 6 deaths worldwide, and 1 in 2 deaths in developing regions (WHO). Further, in Canada we are confronted with an ever-increasing threat from drug resistant bacteria (e.g., MRSA), which are a consequence of ecological interactions and evolutionary responses. Developing a better understanding of parasite evolutionary ecology is therefore critical to designing effective treatment and control strategies.