Population structure of pathogens: the role of immune selection. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Population structure of pathogens: the role of immune selection.

Parasitol Today. 1999 Dec;15(12):497-501. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/20038273
Gupta S; Anderson RM; Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease; in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks; Road, Oxford, UK OX1 3PS. sunetra.gupta@zoology.ox.ac.uk

Abstract: Sunetra Gupta and Roy Anderson discuss how the balance between host immune responses against conserved and variable antigens shapes the population structure of pathogens. At one extreme, immune selection against polymorphic determinants can cause pathogen populations to self-organize spontaneously into discrete antigenic types that may either be maintained over long periods or undergo cyclical or chaotic fluctuations. At the other extreme, diversity may be drastically reduced by competition induced by a strong immune response against a conserved determinant. Where does each pathogen lie along this continuum? How would this knowledge influence our attempts to control an infectious disease?

Keywords: JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIAL Alleles Animal Antigenic Variation/GENETICS/*IMMUNOLOGY Dengue/IMMUNOLOGY Dengue Virus/IMMUNOLOGY Hepatitis B/IMMUNOLOGY Hepatitis B Virus/IMMUNOLOGY Human HIV/IMMUNOLOGY HIV Infections/IMMUNOLOGY Linkage Disequilibrium Malaria, Falciparum/EPIDEMIOLOGY/IMMUNOLOGY Meningitis, Meningococcal/EPIDEMIOLOGY/IMMUNOLOGY *Models, Immunological Neisseria meningitidis/CLASSIFICATION/*IMMUNOLOGY Nonlinear Dynamics Plasmodium falciparum/CLASSIFICATION/*IMMUNOLOGY Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

KWDjournalarticlereviewreview,tutorialallelesanimalantigenicvariation/genetics/
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