>>Remember, a parasite is better off if it doesn't kill its host.
>> Not necessarily, sometimes negative effects to the host are
>necessary for the propagation of the parasite. Take malaria for example,
>it kills 1 million a year, this is how the parasite can get transmitted
>effectively, by reproducing to large enough numbers that a subsequent
>mosquito bite will cause parasites to be taken up and transmitted to new
>hosts. Unfiortunately this often results in the death of the host.
This is not an example of a negative effect being necessary for the
propagation of the parasite. You would need to show that malaria couldn't
be transmitted with smaller host concentrations.
--
-------------
Jack Hamilton jfh at crl.com KD6TTL '92 K75RTA co-moderator, sci.med.aids
