Article
Entomology
Benjamin W. Borgmann-Winter, Kelly M. Oggenfuss, Richard S. Ostfeld
Summary: The study found that peak densities of nymphal black-legged ticks were strongly synchronous in oak and non-oak forests between years, while larval population dynamics were weakly synchronous between the two forest types. This suggests that factors influencing immature tick density in oak-dominant forests may also impact tick population fluctuations in the surrounding landscape.
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emily L. Robinson, Claire M. Jardine, Jules K. Koffi, Curtis Russell, L. Robbin Lindsay, Antonia Dibernardo, Katie M. Clow
Summary: A study conducted in Ontario over a 3-year period examined the range expansion of the vector tick species, Ixodes scapularis, and its impact on the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The research found that I. scapularis populations establish before the establishment of B. burgdorferi transmission cycles, with a delay of approximately 5 years. The study also identified the spatial and temporal patterns of tick and pathogen distribution in Ontario.
VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lisa Couper, Andrew J. MacDonald, Erin A. Mordecai
Summary: Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in temperate zones, and climate change is expected to significantly impact disease incidence, particularly in the Northeast of the United States. Projections indicate a substantial increase in cases in the Northeast by 2050, but other regions are not projected to experience significant changes. The results emphasize the need for improved preparedness and public health interventions to mitigate the impact of climate change on Lyme disease burden.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jeff Hamik, Travis J. J. Bourret, Halie Smith, Molly Herman, Rachael Birn, Tammy Dawdy, Mona J. J. Zuffante, Matthew A. A. Donahue
Summary: In August 2021, two cases of Lyme disease were reported in Nebraska, with patients having local exposure to wooded areas. Epidemiological investigations confirmed that the two patients were exposed to ticks in adjacent wooded sites. Environmental investigations collected 12 ticks, identified as black-legged ticks, and found that 58.3% of them tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi s.s., the bacterium causing Lyme disease. This study documents the presence of I. scapularis ticks and the occurrence of local transmission of Lyme disease in Nebraska for the first time, highlighting the need for continued surveillance and monitoring.
ZOONOSES AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Erin Hassett, Maria Diuk-Wasser, Laura Harrington, Pilar Fernandez
Summary: This study is important for understanding the risk of tick exposure and tick-preventative behavior among park visitors in Staten Island, New York City. The findings indicate a mismatch between areas with higher tick density and areas more frequently used by visitors. Additionally, visitors' tick prevention behaviors were closely related to their knowledge and perceived risk.
Article
Immunology
Evan M. Bloch, Jonathan R. Day, Peter J. Krause, Anne Kjemtrup, Sheila F. O'Brien, Aaron A. R. Tobian, Ruchika Goel
Summary: The incidence of babesiosis is increasing in the United States, with a higher prevalence in males and older patients. The disease is seasonal and primarily affects the Northeast and Midwest regions. Despite a higher severity of illness in a significant proportion of hospitalized patients, the mortality rate remains low.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Review
Entomology
Lucy Gilbert
Summary: Ticks are widespread and carry pathogens, impacting by climate change; tick-borne disease systems are complex with diverse drivers, modeling can help understand changes; future research should focus on assessing the resilience of ticks and tick-borne pathogens to climate change.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL 66, 2021
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Anna R. Pasternak, Subba R. Palli
Summary: Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, is increasing in prevalence each year. A study conducted in Kentucky, a non-endemic area, revealed a more than 300% increase in reported human cases from 2010 to 2019. Monitoring the distribution of infected ticks is crucial for effective prevention strategies and disease surveillance.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Biology
Chantelle Wimms, Evan Aljundi, Samniqueka J. Halsey
Summary: The article discusses the current knowledge of tick and tick-borne pathogens in an undersurveilled region of the United States, and explores the impact of landscape shifts and climate change on tick vector dynamics and expansion. It emphasizes the importance of conducting basic science to understand tick distribution and pathogen prevalence.
CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark P. Nelder, Curtis B. Russell, Steven Johnson, Ye Li, Kirby Cronin, Tania Cawston, Samir N. Patel
Summary: The distribution of the American dog tick has changed in Ontario, Canada, with higher submission rates in certain areas. The range of D. variabilis has also expanded during the study, highlighting the need for further research to assess the health risks associated with this tick species.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Jaqueline Matias, Yingjun Cui, Xiaotian Tang, Andaleeb Sajid, Gunjan Arora, Ming-Jie Wu, Kathleen DePonte, Hiromi Muramatsu, Ying K. Tam, Sukanya Narasimhan, Norbert Pardi, Drew Weissman, Erol Fikrig
Summary: Animals can develop acquired resistance to ticks when repeatedly exposed to them. A recent study found that guinea pigs immunized with an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine (19ISP) encoding 19 proteins from Ixodes scapularis showed resistance to ticks. The researchers discovered that a lipid nanoparticle containing 12 specific mRNAs, including the targets that elicited strong immune responses, was able to induce robust resistance to ticks.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Karen M. Holcomb, Noelle Khalil, Duncan W. Cozens, Jamie L. Cantoni, Doug E. Brackney, Megan A. Linske, Scott C. Williams, Goudarz Molaei, Rebecca J. Eisen
Summary: Tick-borne diseases pose a continuous threat to human health in the United States. This study compared active and passive tick surveillance methods to assess their concordance in measuring tick and pathogen presence, infection prevalence, and tick abundance. The findings showed consistent estimates of tick and pathogen presence and infection prevalence, but variable comparisons for tick abundance estimates.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Julia R. Brennan, Samantha Boychuck, Anthony John Washkwich, Henry John-Alder, Dina M. Fonseca
Summary: Forest thinning is a management practice used to improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and manage wildlife. This study found that forest thinning resulted in warmer and drier microclimates, leading to a significant reduction in tick abundance. The results suggest that forest management strategies can effectively lower the risk of tick-borne diseases. Rating: 8/10.
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Felicia Keesing, Stacy Mowry, William Bremer, Shannon Duerr, Andrew S. Evans, Ilya R. Fischhoff, Alison F. Hinckley, Sarah A. Hook, Fiona Keating, Jennifer Pendleton, Ashley Pfister, Marissa Teator, Richard S. Ostfeld
Summary: This study demonstrates that while certain methods can reduce the abundance of ticks at small spatial scales, it may not necessarily lower the incidence of tickborne diseases (TBDs) in humans. However, these methods are effective in reducing TBDs in pets.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lennart Justen, Duncan Carlsmith, Susan M. Paskewitz, Lyric C. Bartholomay, Gebbiena M. Bron
Summary: Ticks and tick-borne diseases are increasing public health threats in North America and Europe, with the potential for accurate real-time tick image identification through smartphone apps. However, current models still fall short of expert performance in identifying tick species accurately.
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Istvan Balazs, Gergely Rost
Summary: The study proves that all Hopf bifurcations in Nicholson's blowfly equation become supercritical as delay increases. This eliminates the need for lengthy calculations involving the first Lyapunov coefficient to determine the criticality of bifurcations at any point.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eva Kocsmar, Gyorgy Miklos Buzas, Ildiko Szirtes, Ildiko Kocsmar, Zsofia Kramer, Attila Szijarto, Petra Fadgyas-Freyler, Kato Szenas, Massimo Rugge, Matteo Fassan, Andras Kiss, Zsuzsa Schaff, Gergely Rost, Gabor Lotz
Summary: Clarithromycin, a macrolide antibiotic, is commonly used to treat Helicobacter pylori infection. The study by Kocsmar et al. on clarithromycin resistance and previous macrolide consumption in 4,744 H. pylori-infected patients sheds light on the sources of primary resistant cases and the impact of prior macrolide consumption for non-eradication purposes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Vittoria Barbarossa, Norbert Bogya, Attila Denes, Gergely Rost, Hridya Vinod Varma, Zsolt Vizi
Summary: The study investigated the impact of fleeing behavior on epidemic outbreaks and proposed a mathematical model. Research on the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy indicated that timely and strict interventions could have significantly reduced the cumulative number of cases, with fleeing playing a minor role in disease spread.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Istvan Z. Reguly, David Csercsik, Janos Juhasz, Kalman Tornai, Zsofia Bujtar, Gergely Horvath, Bence Keoemley-Horvath, Tamas Kos, Gyoergy Cserey, Kristof Ivan, Sandor Pongor, Gabor Szederkenyi, Gergely Roest, Attila Csikasz-Nagy
Summary: Pandemic management requires reliable and efficient dynamical simulation to predict and control disease spreading. Vaccination strategies prioritising occupational risk groups can minimize infections, while prioritising vulnerable groups can minimize mortality. Intensive vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions can significantly suppress the spread of the virus.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
David W. Dick, Lauren Childs, Zhilan Feng, Jing Li, Gergely Roest, David L. Buckeridge, Nick H. Ogden, Jane M. Heffernan
Summary: COVID-19 seroprevalence in the Canadian population changes over time, and it is estimated that 60-80% of the population will have some immunity to COVID-19 by late Summer 2021. To reduce the spread and severity of COVID-19, it is necessary to increase vaccination uptake in the age group 12-29, and administer booster doses to the age group 50+.
Article
Virology
Ferenc A. Bartha, Nora Juhasz, Sadegh Marzban, Renji Han, Gergely Rost
Summary: This study evaluates the pharmacometric features of the orally bioavailable novel drug Paxlovid and proposes a hybrid multiscale mathematical approach. The results match the clinical expectations and confirm the effectiveness and safety of Paxlovid. The study also highlights the importance of early interventions and explores the sensitivity of the results to the diffusion coefficient of the virus.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Lauren Childs, David W. Dick, Zhilan Feng, Jane M. Heffernan, Jing Li, Gergely Rost
Summary: This study developed a model for COVID-19 infection, taking into account the waning and boosting of immunity, changes in virus infectivity, and different vaccination factors. The research found that delaying the second dose of vaccine is appropriate in the Canadian context, and including 15-19 year olds in the vaccine rollout can increase the benefits of vaccination in reducing infections.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julia Koltai, Orsolya Vasarhelyi, Gergely Rost, Marton Karsai
Summary: This study records contact matrices through online and phone surveys to understand the changing social mixing patterns. Using census data and representative samples, researchers develop a reconstruction method to obtain more accurate contact matrices and provide crucial data for epidemic models.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kristof Kutasi, Julia Koltai, Agnes Szabo-Morvai, Gergely Rost, Marton Karsai, Peter Biro, Balazs Lengyel
Summary: Many countries have more COVID-19 vaccines than their population wants to take, leading to a better understanding of vaccine hesitancy. However, the existing literature has neglected the heterogeneity of hesitancy by vaccine types. This study examines the acceptance and evaluation of five vaccine types, finding that hesitancy varies depending on individuals' trusted source of information. Believers of conspiracy theories are more likely to reject mRNA vaccines, while those who follow politicians' advice are more accepting of vector-based or whole-virus vaccines. The study argues that offering a greater selection of vaccines and individual choice can help increase vaccination rates in societies.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Richmond Opoku-Sarkodie, Ferenc A. Bartha, Monika Polner, Gergely Rost
Summary: This study investigates the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases using SIRS models, taking into account waning immunity. The results highlight the significant impact of the length of the waning immunity period on long-term epidemiological dynamics.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS
(2022)
Article
Virology
Eszter Ari, Balint Mark Vasarhelyi, Gabor Kemenesi, Gabor Endre Toth, Brigitta Zana, Balazs Somogyi, Zsofia Lanszki, Gergely Rost, Ferenc Jakab, Balazs Papp, Balint Kintses
Summary: Retrospective evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Hungary reveals that the first wave was controlled by a national lockdown, while the second wave was mainly driven by a specific transmission lineage.
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Renji Han, Gergely Roest
Summary: In this paper, the pattern dynamics in a reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis food chain model with predator-taxis is investigated. The global classical solvability and boundedness of the model are proved over a bounded domain with smooth boundary using diffusion semigroup theory. The linear stability analysis shows that chemotaxis can induce the losing of stability of the unique positive spatially homogeneous steady state via Turing bifurcation and Turing-spatiotemporal Hopf bifurcation, leading to the formation of stationary Turing pattern and oscillatory pattern. Numerical simulations are performed to illustrate and support the theoretical findings, and interesting non-Turing patterns are found in temporal Hopf parameter space.
MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN THE APPLIED SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Bornali Das, Gergely Rost
Summary: A mathematical model is developed to study the co-infection of Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) considering the non-cultivable state of C. trachomatis induced by HSV. The dynamics of the sub-systems with single diseases are described in detail. For the co-infection model, the persistence or extinction of HSV solely depends on its basic reproduction number, regardless of C. trachomatis prevalence. However, C. trachomatis may not always invade a HSV-endemic population due to a newly introduced threshold parameter. The model is calibrated and compared with epidemiological observations.
DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS-SERIES B
(2023)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Tamas Tekeli, Attila Denes, Gergely Rost
Summary: The study suggests that mass testing of a high percentage of the population, along with optimized pooling strategies, can effectively reduce disease transmission, with adaptive strategies being more efficient.
MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Tamas Peni, Balazs Csutak, Ferenc A. Bartha, Gergely Rost, Gabor Szederkenyi
Summary: This paper proposes a predictive-control-based approach for pandemic mitigation with multiple control inputs. By introducing testing intensity as a new manipulable input, the optimization-based design significantly reduces the stringency of the control measures.
