Changes in parasite traits, rather than intensity, affect the dynamics of infection under external perturbation.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms that generate complex host-parasite interactions, and how they contribute to variation between and within hosts, is important for predicting risk of infection and transmission, and for developing more effective interventions based on parasite properties. We used the T. retortaeformis (TR)-rabbit system and developed a state-space mathematical framework to capture the variation in intensity of infection and egg shedding in hosts infected weekly, then treated with an anthelminthic and subsequently re-challenged following the same infection regime. Experimental infections indicate that parasite intensity accumulates more slowly in the post-anthelminthic phase but reaches similar maximum numbers. By contrast, parasite EPG (eggs per gram of feces) shed from rabbits

SUBMITTER: Ghosh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6019670 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature