Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.

If viruses or other pathogens infect a single host, the outcome of infection may depend on the initial basic reproduction number R0, the expected number of host cells infected by a single infected cell. This article shows that sometimes, phylogenetic models can estimate the initial R0, using only se...

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Main Authors: Vruj Patel, John L Spouge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227127&type=printable
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author Vruj Patel
John L Spouge
author_facet Vruj Patel
John L Spouge
author_sort Vruj Patel
collection DOAJ
description If viruses or other pathogens infect a single host, the outcome of infection may depend on the initial basic reproduction number R0, the expected number of host cells infected by a single infected cell. This article shows that sometimes, phylogenetic models can estimate the initial R0, using only sequences sampled from the pathogenic population during its exponential growth or shortly thereafter. When evaluated by simulations mimicking the bursting viral reproduction of HIV and simultaneous sampling of HIV gp120 sequences during early viremia, the estimated R0 displayed useful accuracies in achievable experimental designs. Estimates of R0 have several potential applications to investigators interested in the progress of infection in single hosts, including: (1) timing a pathogen's movement through different microenvironments; (2) timing the change points in a pathogen's mode of spread (e.g., timing the change from cell-free spread to cell-to-cell spread, or vice versa, in an HIV infection); (3) quantifying the impact different initial microenvironments have on pathogens (e.g., in mucosal challenge with HIV, quantifying the impact that the presence or absence of mucosal infection has on R0); (4) quantifying subtle changes in infectability in therapeutic trials (either human or animal), even when therapies do not produce total sterilizing immunity; and (5) providing a variable predictive of the clinical efficacy of prophylactic therapies.
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spelling doaj-art-b3f74429320d4bd6aaba9015d79903bb2025-08-20T02:55:17ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01151e022712710.1371/journal.pone.0227127Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.Vruj PatelJohn L SpougeIf viruses or other pathogens infect a single host, the outcome of infection may depend on the initial basic reproduction number R0, the expected number of host cells infected by a single infected cell. This article shows that sometimes, phylogenetic models can estimate the initial R0, using only sequences sampled from the pathogenic population during its exponential growth or shortly thereafter. When evaluated by simulations mimicking the bursting viral reproduction of HIV and simultaneous sampling of HIV gp120 sequences during early viremia, the estimated R0 displayed useful accuracies in achievable experimental designs. Estimates of R0 have several potential applications to investigators interested in the progress of infection in single hosts, including: (1) timing a pathogen's movement through different microenvironments; (2) timing the change points in a pathogen's mode of spread (e.g., timing the change from cell-free spread to cell-to-cell spread, or vice versa, in an HIV infection); (3) quantifying the impact different initial microenvironments have on pathogens (e.g., in mucosal challenge with HIV, quantifying the impact that the presence or absence of mucosal infection has on R0); (4) quantifying subtle changes in infectability in therapeutic trials (either human or animal), even when therapies do not produce total sterilizing immunity; and (5) providing a variable predictive of the clinical efficacy of prophylactic therapies.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227127&type=printable
spellingShingle Vruj Patel
John L Spouge
Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
PLoS ONE
title Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
title_full Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
title_fullStr Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
title_full_unstemmed Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
title_short Estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects.
title_sort estimating the basic reproduction number of a pathogen in a single host when only a single founder successfully infects
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227127&type=printable
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