The populations of pathogens in individual hosts have many of the characteristics of
multicellular organisms, or individuals. These populations go through a life cycle within a …

We investigate the evolution of virulence of pathogens that reduce their hosts' fitness
primarily by affecting host fecundity. We show that, under many conditions, such sterilizing …

The patterns of immunity conferred by host sex or age represent two sources of host
heterogeneity that can potentially shape the evolutionary trajectory of disease. With each …

Recent studies have provided evolutionary explanations for much of the variation in mortality
among human infectious diseases. One gap in this knowledge concerns respiratory tract …

Current sequencing technologies have created unprecedented opportunities for studying
microbial populations. For pathogens with comparatively low per-site mutation rates, such as …

Life history theory accounts for variations in many traits involved in the reproduction and
survival of living organisms, by determining the constraints leading to trade-offs among …

The emergence and re-emergence of pathogens remains a major public health concern.
Unfortunately, when and where pathogens will (re-) emerge is notoriously difficult to predict …

Pathogens that can infect multiple host species will have different dynamics than pathogens
that are restricted to a single species of host. This article examines the conditions for …

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Infectious disease, especially virulent infectious disease, is commonly regarded as a cause
of fluctuation or decline in biological populations. However, it is not generally considered as …