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Celluloepidemiology-A paradigm for quantifying infectious disease dynamics on a population level.
My K Ha1,2,3, Anna Postovskaya3,4,5,6, Maria Kuznetsova1,2,3
1Center for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Science Advances
|May 16, 2025
Summary
This study introduces celluloepidemiology, using T cell responses to understand infectious diseases like COVID-19. This method identifies asymptomatic cases and differentiates exposure levels in healthcare workers.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Epidemiology
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Serology is a common tool for public health interventions.
- Understanding T cell responses at a population level can enhance epidemiological insights.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and validate the celluloepidemiology paradigm using SARS-CoV-2 as a model.
- To leverage pathogen-specific T cell responses for population-level epidemiological understanding.
- To complement existing serological methods in public health.
Main Methods:
- Utilized flow cytometry and machine learning on data from over 500 individuals.
- Analyzed T cell responses, specifically the expression of functional markers.
- Incorporated T cell receptor (TCR) profiling for deeper analysis.
Main Results:
- The celluloepidemiology approach successfully distinguished recovered COVID-19 patients from controls and pre-COVID donors.
- Identified previously unrecognized asymptomatic patients among mild, moderate, and severe recovered cases.
- Differentiated healthcare worker groups based on varying SARS-CoV-2 exposures.
- TCR profiling confirmed higher abundance of SARS-CoV-2-specific TCRs in patients compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Celluloepidemiology, by analyzing T cell reactivity, complements serology.
- This approach enhances the value of infection morbidity modeling for populations.
- The paradigm offers a novel tool for epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases.
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