Main description:

Infectious diseases are continuing to threaten humankind. While some diseases have been controlled, new diseases are constantly appearing. Others are now reappearing in forms that are resistant to drug treatments. A capacity for continual readaptation furnishes pathogens with the power to escape our control efforts through evolution. This makes it imperative to understand the complex selection pressures that are shaping and reshaping diseases. Modern models of evolutionary epidemiology provide powerful tools for creating, expressing, and testing such understanding. Bringing together international leaders in the field, this volume offers a panoramic tour of topical developments in understanding the mechanisms of disease evolution. The volume's first part elucidates the general concepts underlying models of disease evolution.Methodological challenges addressed include those posed by spatial structure, stochastic dynamics, disease phases and classes, single- and multi-drug resistance, the heterogeneity of host populations and tissues, and the intricate coupling of disease evolution with between-host and within-host dynamics. The book's second part shows how these methods are utilized for investigating the dynamics and evolution of specific diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, SARS, malaria, and human rhinovirus infections. This volume is particularly suited for introducing young scientists and established researchers with backgrounds in mathematics, computer science, or biology to the current techniques and challenges of mathematical evolutionary epidemiology.

Contents:

Model infrastructure: The implications of spatial structure within populations to the evolution of parasites by M. Boots, M. Kamo, and A. Sasaki Insights from Price's equation into evolutionary epidemiology by T. Day and S. Gandon Within-host pathogen dynamics: Some ecological and evolutionary consequences of transients, dispersal mode, and within-host spatial heterogeneity by R. D. Holt and M. Barfield Evolutionary and dynamic models of infection with internal host structure by J. K. Kelly Basic methods for modeling the invasion and spread of contagious diseases by W. M. Getz and J. O. Lloyd-Smith Applications to specific diseases: Modeling the invasion and spread of contagious diseases in heterogeneous populations by W. M. Getz, J. O. Lloyd-Smith, P. C. Cross, S. Bar-David, P. L. Johnson, T. C. Porco, and M. S. Sanchez A cophylogenetic perspective on host-pathogen evolution by M. A. Charleston and A. P. Galvani The influence of anti-viral drug therapy on the evolution of HIV-1 pathogens by Z. Feng and L. Rong Do rhinoviruses follow the neutral theory? The role of cross-immunity in maintaining the diversity of the common cold by W. J. Koppelman and F. R. Adler Drug resistance in acute viral infections: Rhinovirus as a case study by A. L. Lloyd and D. Wodarz Dynamics and control of antibiotic resistance in structured metapopulations by D. L. Smith, M. F. Boni, and R. Laxminarayan.