Too little of a good thing: a paradox of moderate infection control.
Epidemic theory dictates that a reduction in the force of infection by a pathogen is associated with an increase in the average age at which individuals are exposed. For those pathogens that cause more severe disease among hosts of an older age, interventions that limit transmission can paradoxically increase the burden of disease in a population.
Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. tcohen@hsph.harvard.edu
Ted
T
Cohen
Marc
M
Lipsitch
D000367:Age Factors; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007114:Immunization; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D014774:Virulence