Discussion issues in the theory of the epidemic process

The study aims to characterize and evaluate the validity of several fundamental theoretical concepts in the theory of the epidemic process, including self-regulation and evolution, levels of the material world, hierarchy, biological and ecological niches, and interspecies relationships. The study material consists of publications on the theory of the epidemic process, the taxonomy of microorganisms, and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Data on the incidence of influenza A in Primorskiy Krai from 2011 to 2022 were used to examine the mechanisms of speciation. The theory of the epidemic process is evolving as an independent scientific discipline. At the same time, it is closely integrated in its theoretical constructs with biology and sociology, microbiology, and evolutionary theory. Its foundation is the theory of self-regulation of parasitic systems, which explains the principles of the emergence and persistence of biological species of infection pathogens. The development of the epidemic process is determined by the realization of interspecies relationships between the parasite and the host through transmission mechanisms controlled at the levels of social hierarchy within societies. Interspecies relationships among parasites sharing the same habitat in epidemic processes correspond to their biological hierarchy, formed through evolution and reflected in taxonomy and systematics. The principles of biocenosis stability are based on evolutionary mechanisms: the distribution across biological, ecological, and other niches aims to reduce the intensity of competitive relationships, including those between parasites.