The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Between-country childhood respiratory pathogen spectra diverged from 1990 to 2023, with mean pairwise Jensen–Shannon divergence rising from 0.0084 to 0.0283 (+238%).
- Why it matters: Although within-country diversity increased across nearly all countries, it was unclear whether countries were converging on a shared pathogen mix or diverging along distinct trajectories.
- What they did: Using Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 etiologic attributions for 26 pathogens across 204 countries (ages 0–19) at five timepoints, the authors computed all pairwise Jensen–Shannon divergences and Bray–Curtis dissimilarities, with robustness checks including a balanced panel of 107 countries.
- The result: Divergence reflected balanced share reallocation and increased spectrum richness (18.5 to 21.1 of 26), rising steadily at +4.1% per year (95% CI 2.0–6.3) without a supported breakpoint, and occurring within regions rather than between blocs.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.