Role of genetic heterogeneity in determining the epidemiological severity of H1N1 influenza.

ABSTRACT: Genetic differences contribute to variations in the immune response mounted by different individuals to a pathogen. Such differential response can influence the spread of infectious disease, indicating why such diseases impact some populations more than others. Here, we study the impact of population-level genetic heterogeneity on the epidemic spread of different strains of H1N1 influenza. For a population with known HLA class-I allele frequency and for a given H1N1 viral strain, we classify individuals into sub-populations according to their level of susceptibility to infection. Our core hypothesis is that the susceptibility of a given individual to a disease such as H1N1 influenza is inversely proportional to the number of high affinity viral epitopes the individual can present. This num

SUBMITTER: Sambaturu N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5880410 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature