Role of seasonal importation and genetic drift on selection for drug-resistant genotypes of Plasmodium falciparum in high-transmission settings
Historically Plasmodium falciparum has followed a pattern of drug resistance first appearing in low-transmission settings before spreading to high-transmission settings. Several features of low-transmission regions are hypothesized as explanations: higher chance of symptoms and treatment seeking, better treatment access, less within-host competition among clones and lower rates of recombination. Upon controlling for the timing of importation of drug-resistant genotypes and examination of key model variables, we found that drug-resistant genotypes imported during the low-transmission season were (i) more susceptible to stochastic extinction due to the action of genetic drift, and (ii) more likely to lead to establishment of drug resistance when parasites are able to survive early stochastic loss due to drift. This implies that rare importation events are more likely to lead to establishment if they occur during a high-transmission season, but that constant importation (e.g. neighbouring countries with high levels of resistance) may produce a greater risk during low-transmission periods.
Zupko, R. J., Servadio, J. L., Nguyen, T. D., Tran, T. N. A., Tran, K. T., Somé, A. F., & Boni, M. F. (2023). Role of Seasonal Importation and Random Genetic Drift on Selection for Drug-Resistant Genotypes of Plasmodium falciparum in High Transmission Settings. bioRxiv.