Epidemiology in a Changing World: The Need for a Bigger Picture!

Abstract

Quite properly, the medical epidemiologist's main concern is often with the recondite biological and medical details that make each infection unique . . . In the absence of [such] a unified framework each infection tends to develop its own, often arcane, literature." Anderson and May, 1991 climate variability is already complicated, and necessitates collaboration with at least geographers and climatologists. Indeed, an enormous influx of nationally and internationally funded research resources have been targeted toward promoting sophisticated molecular tools such as genomics, proteomics, and nanotechnology (see many chapters in this volume).Clearly, this is of crucial importance in developing diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutic tools, but what is really being studied is the health and diseases of individuals rather than populations and groups. Likewise, the traditional approach in medical epidemiology and parasitology has been to focus research attention on the understanding of local phenomena, considering that the unit of study is the individual, thus pinpointing the critical importance of sociocultural influences on disease patterns.We are not contesting here that socioeconomical parameters are not important in influencing the distribution and prevalence of disease, but we are arguing that some disease patterns can, in some cases, be attributed to the natural environment, as illustrated by the examples that will follow. Finally, there exists an individual-centered approach on the part of medical epidemiologists, which does not consider the effects of large-scale or global environmental influences; these

On the Adaptive Origins and Maladaptive Consequences of Human Inbreeding: Parasite Prevalence, Immune Functioning, and Consanguineous Marriage

“…This is because recent technological advances have facilitated travel and migration around the globe leading to an increased globalization of infectious disease ( Smith, Sax, Gaines, Guernier, and Guégan, 2007 ). Moreover, humans live in larger and denser populations today than were experienced throughout much of human history, providing the necessary conditions for the maintenance of a diverse set of pathogens and the emergence of novel pathogens ( Dobson and Carper, 1996 ; Guégan and Constantin de Magny, 2007 ; Wilcox, Gubler, and Pizer, 2008 ). Under these contemporary circumstances, populations characterized by higher levels of inbreeding are more vulnerable to new infectious diseases.…”

Host-parasite relationships in invasive species: macroecological framework

“…Parasitology continues to suffer from the lack of large-scale comparative studies because of the individually focused-research dimension (Guégan and de Magny, 2006) that is also true for studies investigating alien species. Within the context of parasites from invasive hosts, three main phenomena are usually considered: enemy release, parasite spillback and spillover (Kelly et al, 2009;Peeler et al, 2011;Lymbery et al, 2014;Chalkowski, Lepczyk and Zohdy, 2018).…”

Symbiotic species diversity can explain invasion success and host–parasite system stability: The case of gammarid hosts

“…Symbiotic organisms, such as mutualists, commensalists, and parasites, represent a large part of the species diversity on Earth (Windsor, 1998) and are frequently overlooked in ecological studies (Chinchio et al, 2020; Guégan & Constantin de Magny, 2006). All free‐living animals are exposed to and interact with a diverse array of symbionts including micro and macroorganisms.…”