ArticleEcology letters2024
Into the danger zone: How the within-host distribution of parasites controls virulence.
Article in Ecology letters, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of historic and novel data reveals higher contemporary diversity of trematode metacercariae in freshwater fish.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2026Article
- Differential Population Responses to White-Nose Syndrome Between Two Michigan Bat Hibernacula Are Not due to Differences in Host Susceptibility.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Despite the importance of virulence in epidemiological theory, the relative contributions of host and parasite to virulence outcomes remain poorly understood. Here, we use reciprocal cross experiments to disentangle the influence of host and parasite on core virulence components-infection and pathology-and understand dramatic differences in parasite-induced malformations in California amphibians. Surveys across 319 populations revealed that amphibians' malformation risk was 2.7× greater in low-elevation ponds, even while controlling for trematode infection load. Factorial experiments revealed that parasites from low-elevation sites induced higher per-parasite pathology (reduced host survival and growth), whereas there were no effects of host source on resistance or tolerance. Parasite populations also exhibited marked differences in within-host distribution: ~90% of low-elevation cysts aggregated around the hind limbs, relative to <60% from high-elevation. This offers a novel, mechanistic basis for regional variation in parasite-induced malformations while promoting a framework for partitioning host and parasite contributions to virulence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.