ArticleHealth science reports2026
Healthcare Development, Relaxed Natural Selection, and COVID-19 Infection Rates: An Evolutionary Population-Level Analysis.
Article in Health science reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
Background and Aim: Evolutionary principles offer critical insights into pandemic dynamics but have been largely overlooked in contemporary responses to COVID-19. Relaxed natural selection, increased global mobility, and lifestyle mismatches have contributed to human vulnerability to infectious diseases in modern societies. This study investigated the relationship between healthcare development, measured by the Biological State Index (I Methods: Data from 189 countries were analysed to assess the association between the Biological State Index and COVID-19 infection rates, defined as the cumulative percentage of the population contracting COVID-19. Correlation analyses (Pearson's Results: Higher Biological State Index values were strongly associated with higher COVID-19 infection rates globally (Pearson's Conclusions: Healthcare system advancement is strongly associated with higher reported COVID-19 infection rates, likely reflecting greater susceptibility, improved detection capabilities, demographic shifts, and broader exposure opportunities. These findings highlight the importance of integrating evolutionary perspectives into pandemic preparedness strategies, recognizing that modern healthcare developments, while reducing mortality, may inadvertently alter infection patterns and pathogen-host dynamics over time.
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