RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.

Population-based serological surveys are a key tool in epidemiology to characterize the level of population immunity and reconstruct the past circulation of pathogens. A variety of serocatalytic models have been developed to estimate the force of infection (FOI) (i.e., the rate at which susceptible...

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Main Authors: Nathanaël Hozé, Margarita Pons-Salort, C Jessica E Metcalf, Michael White, Henrik Salje, Simon Cauchemez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-02-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012777
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author Nathanaël Hozé
Margarita Pons-Salort
C Jessica E Metcalf
Michael White
Henrik Salje
Simon Cauchemez
author_facet Nathanaël Hozé
Margarita Pons-Salort
C Jessica E Metcalf
Michael White
Henrik Salje
Simon Cauchemez
author_sort Nathanaël Hozé
collection DOAJ
description Population-based serological surveys are a key tool in epidemiology to characterize the level of population immunity and reconstruct the past circulation of pathogens. A variety of serocatalytic models have been developed to estimate the force of infection (FOI) (i.e., the rate at which susceptible individuals become infected) from age-stratified seroprevalence data. However, few tool currently exists to easily implement, combine, and compare these models. Here, we introduce an R package, Rsero, that implements a series of serocatalytic models and estimates the FOI from age-stratified seroprevalence data using Bayesian methods. The package also contains a series of features to perform model comparison and visualise model fit. We introduce new serocatalytic models of successive outbreaks and extend existing models of seroreversion to any transmission model. The different features of the package are illustrated with simulated and real-life data. We show we can identify the correct epidemiological scenario and recover model parameters in different epidemiological settings. We also show how the package can support serosurvey study design in a variety of epidemic situations. This package provides a standard framework to epidemiologists and modellers to study the dynamics of past pathogen circulation from cross-sectional serological survey data.
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publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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spelling doaj-art-328f7b032dfa481f8a4b923eb1f3798d2025-08-20T02:27:06ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582025-02-01212e101277710.1371/journal.pcbi.1012777RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.Nathanaël HozéMargarita Pons-SalortC Jessica E MetcalfMichael WhiteHenrik SaljeSimon CauchemezPopulation-based serological surveys are a key tool in epidemiology to characterize the level of population immunity and reconstruct the past circulation of pathogens. A variety of serocatalytic models have been developed to estimate the force of infection (FOI) (i.e., the rate at which susceptible individuals become infected) from age-stratified seroprevalence data. However, few tool currently exists to easily implement, combine, and compare these models. Here, we introduce an R package, Rsero, that implements a series of serocatalytic models and estimates the FOI from age-stratified seroprevalence data using Bayesian methods. The package also contains a series of features to perform model comparison and visualise model fit. We introduce new serocatalytic models of successive outbreaks and extend existing models of seroreversion to any transmission model. The different features of the package are illustrated with simulated and real-life data. We show we can identify the correct epidemiological scenario and recover model parameters in different epidemiological settings. We also show how the package can support serosurvey study design in a variety of epidemic situations. This package provides a standard framework to epidemiologists and modellers to study the dynamics of past pathogen circulation from cross-sectional serological survey data.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012777
spellingShingle Nathanaël Hozé
Margarita Pons-Salort
C Jessica E Metcalf
Michael White
Henrik Salje
Simon Cauchemez
RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
PLoS Computational Biology
title RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
title_full RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
title_fullStr RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
title_full_unstemmed RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
title_short RSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies.
title_sort rsero a user friendly r package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studies
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012777
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