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Quantification of Plasmid-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in an Experimental Evolution Approach
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Coinfection and the evolution of drug resistance

J Hansen1, T Day

  • 1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Jeffery Hall, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.

Journal of Evolutionary Biology
|November 25, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Coinfection can increase drug-resistant malaria strains due to competitive release. However, the overall impact on resistance spread depends on both within-host and between-host effects, not just competitive release alone.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Malaria Research
  • Drug Resistance Evolution

Background:

  • Within-host competition affects malaria strain dynamics.
  • Competitive release of drug-resistant strains observed in rodent models.
  • The epidemiological impact of coinfection and competitive release on resistance spread is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a general epidemiological model incorporating coinfection and competitive release.
  • To determine how within-host effects translate to between-host disease spread.
  • To analyze the combined influence of within-host and between-host effects on drug resistance emergence.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a general, between-host epidemiological model.
  • Explicitly modeling the effects of coinfection and competitive release.
  • Analysis of how within-host dynamics influence between-host epidemiological parameters.

Main Results:

  • Coinfection and competitive release can contribute to the emergence of drug resistance.
  • An additional between-host effect, beyond competitive release, was identified.
  • The combination of within-host and between-host effects determines the overall impact of coinfection on resistance.

Conclusions:

  • Coinfection does not always lead to increased emergence of drug resistance, even with competitive release.
  • Understanding both within-host and between-host dynamics is crucial for predicting resistance spread.
  • Findings have significant implications for strategies to control drug resistance in malaria.
Keywords:
Epidemiologyantibioticscompetitive releaseinfectious diseasemodel

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