title: An approach for modeling cross-immunity of two strains, with application to variants of Bartonella in terms of genetic similarity.
abstract: We developed a two-strain susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model that provides a framework for inferring the cross-immunity between two strains of a bacterial species in the host population with discretely sampled co-infection time-series data. Moreover, the model accounts for seasonality in host reproduction. We illustrate an approach using a dataset describing co-infections by several strains of bacteria circulating within a population of cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus). Bartonella strains were clustered into three genetically close groups, between which the divergence is correspondent to the accepted level of separate bacterial species. The proposed approach revealed no cross-immunity between genetic clusters while limited cross-immunity might exist between subgroups within the clusters.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. Electronic address: kwooahn@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Kwang Woo
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Electronic address: mck3@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kosoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. Electronic address: kung-sik-chan@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Kung-Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D060085:Coinfection / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004199:Disease Vectors; D007109:Immunity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016205:Sigmodontinae
keywords: Bartonella; Conditional least squares; Cross-immunity; SIR model