Implications of asymptomatic carriers for infectious disease transmission and control

Rebecca H Chisholm; Patricia T Campbell; Yue Wu; Steven YC Tong; Jodie McVernon; Nicholas Geard

Journal article

Implications of asymptomatic carriers for infectious disease transmission and control

Rebecca H Chisholm, Patricia T Campbell, Yue Wu, Steven YC Tong, Jodie McVernon, Nicholas Geard

ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE | ROYAL SOC | Published : 2018

DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172341

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Abstract

For infectious pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, some hosts may carry the pathogen and transmit it to others, yet display no symptoms themselves. These asymptomatic carriers contribute to the spread of disease but go largely undetected and can therefore undermine efforts to control transmission. Understanding the natural history of carriage and its relationship to disease is important for the design of effective interventions to control transmission. Mathematical models of infectious diseases are frequently used to inform decisions about control and should therefore accurately capture the role played by asymptomatic carriers. In practice, incorporating asy..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Patricia Campbell Author Infectious Diseases

Steven Tong Author Infectious Diseases

Nic Geard Author Computing and Information Systems

Rebecca Chisholm Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

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Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by an NHMRC project grant (APP1098319) and NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (APP1058804). Y.W. is part funded by CANVAS. S.Y.C.T. is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (CDF1065736). J.M. is supported by an NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship (PRF1117140). N.G. is supported by an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE130100660).