Resumen de Dynamics, evolutionary and epidemiological patterns of rna viruses
Viral infections, specifically those caused by RNA viruses such as Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) or Influenza, are among the most important public health concerns to humans due to their high prevalence and associated mortalilty. Prevention and treatment campaigns against these viruses usually had limited efficacy, partly because their biological features allow them to reach very high levels of diversity, both at the within- and between-host levels.
Research focused on understanding the processes and mechanisms involved in the evolution of RNA viruses, and on the clinical and/or epidemiological consequences of their diversification, is important for improving the management of their epidemics. The aim of this PhD thesis is to study different aspects of the mid- and long-term evolution of RNA viruses, with special interest in molecular epidemiology. For this, different datasets (viral alignments, obtained either from public databases or by sequencing patient#s derived samples from the studied populations) were obtained and analyzed by means of evolutionary and statistical approaches.
The results obtained from this work will not only have direct applications to HIV control campaigns in Spain and HCV treatment refinement, but also provide new insights into different aspects of the evolution of RNA viruses.
