Epidemiological Isolation May Explain Differences in Historical Respiratory Infectious Disease Mortality

G Dennis Shanks1,2

  • 1Australian Defence Force Malaria and Infectious Disease Institute, Enoggera, Queensland, Australia.

Summary

Epidemiological isolation, not genetics, likely explains high mortality from respiratory infections in newly exposed populations. Rapid immune adaptation, rather than Darwinian selection, accounts for these historical epidemics.

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