The effectiveness of contact tracing in emerging epidemics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Contact tracing plays an important role in the control of emerging infectious diseases, but little is known yet about its effectiveness. Here we deduce from a generic mathematical model how effectiveness of tracing relates to various aspects of time, such as the course of individual infectivity, the (variability in) time between infection and symptom-based detection, and delays in the tracing process. In addition, the possibility of iteratively tracing of yet asymptomatic infecteds is considered. With these insights we explain why contact tracing was and will be effective for control of smallpox and SARS, only partially effective for foot-and-mouth disease, and likely not effective for influenza.

Methods and findings

We investigate contact tracing in a model of an

SUBMITTER: Klinkenberg D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1762362 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature