Just as conservation biology takes a general understanding of ecology and considers the specific cases of population viability, management, and control, so too are there equivalent possible perspectives focused on the prediction and management of infectious disease. Infectious diseases have distinct and fascinating ecologies that, thus far, have primarily been explored within the context of epidemiological dynamics at the host and/or population level. Previous work has explored how focusing on existing ecological theory can help improve epidemiological understanding and infection surveillance and control within hospital settings. In this talk, we will broaden this discussion to the ecosystem of human healthcare settings. We will discuss how these settings pose unique and novel challenges that deserve specific ecological consideration in their own right.
Results/Conclusions
We will consider healthcare ecosystems through the specific lenses of urban and conservation ecology. We will make a case for the need for distinction between urban healthcare environments from non-urban healthcare settings. We will explore the accuracy and relevance of these analogies, including some cases already in the published literature (e.g. medical interventions and the patient microbiome) and conclude by considering where the current ecological theory may require additional effort to understand the specific nature of human healthcare ecology.