An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases

We present an individual-level probabilistic model to evaluate the effectiveness of two traditional control measures for infectious diseases: the isolation of symptomatic individuals and contact tracing (plus subsequent quarantine). The model allows us to calculate the reproduction number and the ge...

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Main Author: Ye Xia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIMS Press 2024-10-01
Series:Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
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Online Access:https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2024320
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author Ye Xia
author_facet Ye Xia
author_sort Ye Xia
collection DOAJ
description We present an individual-level probabilistic model to evaluate the effectiveness of two traditional control measures for infectious diseases: the isolation of symptomatic individuals and contact tracing (plus subsequent quarantine). The model allows us to calculate the reproduction number and the generation-time distribution under the two control measures. The model is related to the work of Fraser et al. on the same topic [1], which provides a population-level model using a combination of differential equations and probabilistic arguments. We show that our individual-level model has certain advantages. In particular, we are able to provide more precise results for a disease that has two classes of infected individuals – the individuals who will remain asymptomatic throughout and the individuals who will eventually become symptomatic. Using the properties of integral operators with positive kernels, we also resolve the important theoretical issue as to why the density function of the steady-state generation time is the eigenfunction associated with the largest eigenvalue of the underlying integral operator. Moreover, the same theoretical result shows why the simple algorithm of repeated integration can find numerical solutions for virtually all initial conditions. We discuss the model's implications, especially how it enhances our understanding about the impact of asymptomatic individuals. For instance, in the special case where the infectiousness of the two classes is proportional to each other, the effects of the asymptomatic individuals can be understood by supposing that all individuals will be symptomatic but with modified infectiousness and modified efficacy of the isolation measure. The numerical results show that, out of the two measures, isolation is the more decisive one, at least for the COVID-19 parameters used in the numerical experiments.
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spelling doaj-art-7e755995fcc647748204fbad62478b9b2025-01-23T07:48:00ZengAIMS PressMathematical Biosciences and Engineering1551-00182024-10-0121107253727710.3934/mbe.2024320An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseasesYe Xia0Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USAWe present an individual-level probabilistic model to evaluate the effectiveness of two traditional control measures for infectious diseases: the isolation of symptomatic individuals and contact tracing (plus subsequent quarantine). The model allows us to calculate the reproduction number and the generation-time distribution under the two control measures. The model is related to the work of Fraser et al. on the same topic [1], which provides a population-level model using a combination of differential equations and probabilistic arguments. We show that our individual-level model has certain advantages. In particular, we are able to provide more precise results for a disease that has two classes of infected individuals – the individuals who will remain asymptomatic throughout and the individuals who will eventually become symptomatic. Using the properties of integral operators with positive kernels, we also resolve the important theoretical issue as to why the density function of the steady-state generation time is the eigenfunction associated with the largest eigenvalue of the underlying integral operator. Moreover, the same theoretical result shows why the simple algorithm of repeated integration can find numerical solutions for virtually all initial conditions. We discuss the model's implications, especially how it enhances our understanding about the impact of asymptomatic individuals. For instance, in the special case where the infectiousness of the two classes is proportional to each other, the effects of the asymptomatic individuals can be understood by supposing that all individuals will be symptomatic but with modified infectiousness and modified efficacy of the isolation measure. The numerical results show that, out of the two measures, isolation is the more decisive one, at least for the COVID-19 parameters used in the numerical experiments.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2024320contact tracingepidemic modelsreproduction numberprobability modelspositive integral operators
spellingShingle Ye Xia
An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
contact tracing
epidemic models
reproduction number
probability models
positive integral operators
title An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
title_full An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
title_fullStr An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
title_full_unstemmed An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
title_short An individual-level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
title_sort individual level probabilistic model and solution for control of infectious diseases
topic contact tracing
epidemic models
reproduction number
probability models
positive integral operators
url https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2024320
work_keys_str_mv AT yexia anindividuallevelprobabilisticmodelandsolutionforcontrolofinfectiousdiseases
AT yexia individuallevelprobabilisticmodelandsolutionforcontrolofinfectiousdiseases