The dynamics of infectious diseases can be affected by genetic diversity within host populations, species diversity within host communities, and diversity among communities. In principle, diversity can either increase or decrease pathogen transmission and disease risk. Theoretical models and laboratory experiments have demonstrated that a dilution effect (decreased disease risk with increasing ...

The definition of anti-HLA antibody profile in highly sensitized patients on a waiting list is crucial when virtual crossmatch is used in organ allocation systems, but also when used to identify the true deleterious anti-HLA antibodies. Here we propose different levels of risk based on the results of anti-HLA antibody testing in neat serum (N) and after sera dilution (DIL) and C1q test in 18 hi...

Wood and Lafferty [1] (hereafter WL) attempt a synthesis of two views of the ecological factors underlying variable Lyme disease (LD) risk. LD emerged during the 1970s following the post-agricultural reforestation of the northeastern USA, which provided the habitat required by the blacklegged tick vector (Ixodes scapularis) and many of its hosts [2]. However, within the large and growing North ...

Control of human infectious disease has been promoted as a valuable ecosystem service arising from the conservation of biodiversity. There are two commonly discussed mechanisms by which biodiversity loss could increase rates of infectious disease in a landscape. First, loss of competitors or predators could facilitate an increase in the abundance of competent reservoir hosts. Second, biodiversi...

Dilution factors are a critical component in estimating concentrations of so-called "down-the-drain" chemicals (e.g., pharmaceuticals) in rivers. The present study estimated the temporal and spatial variability of dilution factors around the world using geographically referenced data sets at 0.5° × 0.5° resolution. Domestic wastewater effluents were derived from national per capita domestic wat...

Infectious diseases of humans, wildlife, and domesticated species are increasing worldwide, driving the need to understand the mechanisms that shape outbreaks. Simultaneously, human activities are drastically reducing biodiversity. These concurrent patterns have prompted repeated suggestions that biodiversity and disease are linked. For example, the dilution effect hypothesis posits that these ...

It remains challenging to predict variation in the magnitude of disease outbreaks. The dilution effect seeks to explain this variation by linking multiple host species to disease transmission. It predicts that disease risk increases for a focal host when host species diversity declines. However, when an increase in species diversity does not reduce disease, we are often unable to diagnose why. ...