L15: Rapid Evolution of Pathogens

large scale patterns example:

immune escape and variable outbreak size of seasonal flu A

antigenic drift:

a slow and gradual change in the genotype of a virus

antigenic shift vs antigenic drift

shift: virus A and virus B intermix of RNA to create an all new virus C

drift: virus A with the accumulation of mutations over time makes virus B

the co-occurence of animal species can …

promote coinfection

example of rapid geographic spread:

H1N1 swine flu that emerged in Mexico in 2009 and spread rapidly

for antibiotics there is a need to …

constantly innovate new drugs and mechanisms to attack bacteria

why are vaccines more manageable?

they have a long shelf life, sometimes we have to update them

six reasons why antimicrobial resistance is a global concern:

AMR kills, AMR hampers the control of infectious diseases, AMR threatens a return to the pre-antibiotic era, AMR increases the costs of health care, AMR jeopardizes health-care gains to society, AMR threatens health security (and damages trade economies)

resistance strains (mutants) will increase quickly if …

the benefits (ability to infect treated hosts) outweigh the costs (reduced fitness in untreated hosts)

if there are many treated hosts (wide use of antimicrobials)