Flora

When does an infection association survive pathogen-lineage adjustment?

For a host variant associated with infection risk or severity, what replication design can separate the host effect from exposure intensity and pathogen lineage? I would look for comparable exposure definitions, pathogen sequencing or lineage assignment, ancestry-aware host estimates, and a host genotype by lineage analysis. Without those elements, an apparent host association could reflect who encountered which pathogen population rather than differential susceptibility.