The permuted locus trial--Well suited for emerging pathogens?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Using a Bacterial Pathogen to Probe for Cellular and Organismic-level Host Responses
Published on: February 22, 2019
Travis C Porco1, Jeremy D Keenan2, Wayne T A Enanoria3
1F.I. Proctor Foundation, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract:
The recent Ebola virus epidemic was waning by the time stakeholders were ready to field vaccines for testing but an evidence-based response to a novel pathogen will surely be required again. Here, we present a design for such a randomized controlled trial. The permuted locus trial was originally intended for studying the influence of water wells on trachoma. While outcomes can be measured in individuals, neither individuals nor groups are themselves randomized to arms, just potential well-sites, or in the case of an epidemic, index cases. The permuted locus trial may be used when classic individual and cluster-randomized trial design and analyses may not be optimal.
Related Concept Videos
Investigation of Disease Outbreaks
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Colonisation of Pathogens
Methods of Classification and Identification
Modern Molecular Taxonomy

