Red blood cell dynamics during malaria infection violate the assumptions of mathematical models of infection dynamics.

ABSTRACT: For decades, mathematical models have been used to understand the course and outcome of malaria infections (i.e., infection dynamics) and the evolutionary dynamics of the parasites that cause them. A key conclusion of these models is that red blood cell (RBC) availability is a fundamental driver of infection dynamics and parasite trait evolution. The extent to which this conclusion holds will in part depend on model assumptions about the host-mediated processes that regulate RBC availability i.e., removal of uninfected RBCs and supply of RBCs. Diverse mathematical functions have been used to describe host-mediated RBC supply and clearance, but it remains unclear whether they adequately capture the dynamics of RBC supply and clearance during infection. Here, we use a unique dataset, compris

SUBMITTER: Peters MAE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802624 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature