Projects per year
Abstract
The epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is inherently linked to host mating dynamics. Studies across many taxa show that adult sex ratio, a major determinant of host mating dynamics, is often skewed - sometimes strongly - toward males or females. However, few predictions exist for the effects of skewed sex ratio on STI epidemiology, and none when coupled with sex biased disease characteristics. Here we use mathematical modelling to examine how interactions between sex ratio and disease characteristics affect STI prevalence in males and females. Notably, we find that while overall disease prevalence peaks at equal sex ratios, prevalence per sex peaks at skewed sex ratios. Furthermore, disease characteristics, sex-biased or not, drive predictable differences in male and female STI prevalence as sex ratio varies, with higher transmission and lower virulence generally increasing differences between the sexes for a given sex ratio. Our work reveals new insights into how STI prevalence in males and females depends on a complex interaction between host population sex ratio and disease characteristics.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 110832 |
Journal | Journal of Theoretical Biology |
Volume | 527 |
Early online date | 9 Jul 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Oct 2021 |
Keywords
- Disease prevalence
- Mating dynamics
- STI
- Sexual transmission
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Applied Mathematics
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)
- Statistics and Probability
- Modelling and Simulation
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The eco-evolutionary dynamics of age-specific resistance to infectious disease
Ashby, B.
Natural Environment Research Council
1/06/20 → 31/01/24
Project: Research council
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Fellowship Ben Ashby - Host-parasite Coevolution in Complex Communities
Ashby, B.
Natural Environment Research Council
1/10/16 → 30/09/22
Project: Research council