A speculative summary of the epidemic trajectory* for various population–pathogen interactions
| Population prevalence of sexual behaviours patterns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathogen characteristics | Small high contact, long duration (eg, England) | Large high contact, small long duration (eg, India) | Small high contact, large long duration (eg, Mwanza) | Large high contact, large long duration (eg, Zimbabwe) |
| *Epidemic trajectories listed in the body of the table are those illustrated in fig 1. | ||||
| High infectiousness, short duration (eg, H ducreyi) | I | I or II | I or II | II |
| Intermediate infectiousness and duration (eg, C trachomatis) | I or II | II | II | III |
| Low infectiousness, long duration (eg, HIV) | I | I | II or III | III |