Patogeninost

Patogeninost is a hypothetical metric proposed in theoretical microbiology to quantify the potential pathogenic impact of a microorganism under a defined host and environmental context. It is not an established laboratory measure or regulatory standard.

Conceptually, patogeninost is treated as a dimensionless index, typically bounded from 0 to 1, where higher values indicate greater prospective pathogenic impact given the specified conditions.

Construction involves synthesizing sub-scores for transmissibility, virulence factor expression, host range and receptor compatibility, environmental stability, and immune evasion. The sub-scores are combined using a weighting scheme or machine learning model tailored to the study objective.

Applications include comparative risk assessments in computer simulations, scenario testing for outbreak preparedness, and theoretical studies of host-pathogen dynamics.

Limitations: The metric depends on model design, data quality, and assumptions about host biology and pathogen traits. It cannot be measured directly in wet-lab experiments; it should be interpreted as a comparative, not an absolute, indicator. Real-world risk assessment requires empirical evidence and regulatory evaluation.

History: The term patogeninost has appeared in speculative or pedagogical discussions within computational biology and risk-modelling communities since the late 2010s as a tool for illustrating how multiple factors interact to influence pathogenic potential.

See also: Pathogenicity, Virulence, Infectious dose, Transmission, Host-pathogen interactions.