Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Coincubation Assay for Quantifying Competitive Interactions between Vibrio fischeri Isolates
Published on: July 22, 2019
Analysis of the competition among viral strains using a temporal interaction-driven contagion model
Alex Abbey1, Yuval Shahar2, Osnat Mokryn3
1Information Systems, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Abstract:
The temporal dynamics of social interactions were shown to influence the spread of disease. Here, we model the conditions of progression and competition for several viral strains, exploring various levels of cross-immunity over temporal networks. We use our interaction-driven contagion model and characterize, using it, several viral variants. Our results, obtained on temporal random networks and on real-world interaction data, demonstrate that temporal dynamics are crucial to determining the competition results. We consider two and three competing pathogens and show the conditions under which a slower pathogen will remain active and create a second wave infecting most of the population. We then show that when the duration of the encounters is considered, the spreading dynamics change significantly. Our results indicate that when considering airborne diseases, it might be crucial to consider the duration of temporal meetings to model the spread of pathogens in a population.
Related Concept Videos
Viral Recombination
Viral Mutations
Viral Replication: Lytic Cycle
Viral Replication: Lysogenic Cycle
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Size and Structure of Viral Genomes

