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Infections of one host by multiple parasites are common, and several studies have found that the order of parasite invasion can affect both within-host competition and disease severity. However, it is unclear to what extent coinfection timing might be important to consider when modeling parasite impacts on host populations. Using a model system of two viruses infecting barley, we found that simultaneous infections of the two viruses were significantly more damaging to hosts than sequential coinfections. While priority effects were evident in within-host concentrations of sequential coinfections, priority did not influence any parameters (such as virulence or transmission rate) that affect host population dynamics. We built a susceptible-infected model to examine whether the observed difference in coinfection virulence could impact host population dynamics under a range of scenarios. We found that coinfection timing can have an important but context-dependent effect on projected host population dynamics. Studies that examine only simultaneous coinfections could inflate disease impact predictions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/695316 | DOI Listing |
mBio
September 2025
Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Enteroinvasive bacterial pathogens are responsible for an enormous worldwide disease burden that critically affects the young and immunocompromised. is a gram-negative enteric pathogen closely related to the plague agent that colonizes intestinal tissues, induces the formation of pyogranulomas along the intestinal tract, and disseminates to systemic organs following oral infection of experimental rodents. Prior studies proposed that systemic tissues were colonized by a pool of intestinal replicating bacteria distinct from populations within Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAPMIS
September 2025
Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Bacteria, Parasites and Fungi, Infectious Disease Preparedness, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Clinical microbiology involves the detection and differentiation of primarily bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi in patients with infections. Billions of people may be colonised by one or more species of common luminal intestinal parasitic protists (CLIPPs) that are often detected in clinical microbiology laboratories; still, our knowledge on these organisms' impact on global health is very limited. The genera Blastocystis, Dientamoeba, Entamoeba, Endolimax and Iodamoeba comprise CLIPPs species, the life cycles of which, as opposed to single-celled pathogenic intestinal parasites (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.
A frequent goal of phage biology is to quantify how well a phage kills a population of host bacteria. Unfortunately, traditional methods to quantify phage success can be time-consuming, limiting the throughput of experiments. Here, we use theory to show how the effects of phages on their hosts can be quantified using bacterial population dynamics measured in a high-throughput microplate reader (automated spectrophotometer).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Anim Sci
September 2025
Centre for Veterinary Systems Transformation and Sustainability, Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna 1210, Austria.
It is helpful for diagnostic purposes to improve our current knowledge of gut development and serum biochemistry in young piglets. This study investigated serum biochemistry, and gut site-specific patterns of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and expression of genes related to barrier function, innate immune response, antioxidative status and sensing of fatty and bile acids in suckling and newly weaned piglets. The experiment consisted of two replicate batches with 10 litters each.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Opin Infect Dis
August 2025
Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Purpose Of Review: Plasma metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) enables detection of microbial cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (mcfDNA) in blood without the need for culture or organism-specific primers. Here, we review clinical performance, methodological variability, and real-world application of plasma mNGS for infectious disease diagnosis in immunocompromised hosts (ICHs).
Recent Findings: Plasma mNGS has rapidly gained attention as a novel diagnostic tool for infections in ICHs, offering broad-range pathogen detection from a noninvasive blood sample.