Polymicrobial Interactions Operative during Pathogen Transmission

Pathogen transmission is a key point not only for infection control and public health interventions but also for understanding the selective pressures in pathogen evolution. The "success" of a pathogen lies not in its ability to cause signs and symptoms of illness but in its ability to be shed from the initial hosts, survive between hosts, and then establish infection in a new host. Recent insights have shown the importance of the interaction between the pathogen and both the commensal microbiome and coinfecting pathogens on shedding, environmental survival, and acquisition of infection. Pathogens have evolved in the context of cooperation and competition with other microbes, and the roles of these cooperations and competitions in transmission can inform novel preventative and therapeutic strategies.IMPORTANCE Transmission of pathogens from one host to another is an essential event in pathogenesis. Transmission is driven by factors intrinsic to the host and to the pathogen. In addition, transmission is altered by interactions of the pathogen with the commensal microbiota of the host and coinfecting pathogens. Recent insights into these interactions have shown both enhanced and reduced transmission efficiencies depending on the makeup of the polymicrobial community. This review will discuss polymicrobial interactions during shedding from the initial host, time in the environment, and acquisition by the new host.