Scabies in residential care homes: Modelling, inference and interventions for well-connected population sub-units.

ABSTRACT: In the context of an ageing population, understanding the transmission of infectious diseases such as scabies through well-connected sub-units of the population, such as residential care homes, is particularly important for the design of efficient interventions to mitigate against the effects of those diseases. Here, we present a modelling methodology based on the efficient solution of a large-scale system of linear differential equations that allows statistical calibration of individual-based random models to real data on scabies in residential care homes. In particular, we review and benchmark different numerical methods for the integration of the differential equation system, and then select the most appropriate of these methods to perform inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo. We te

SUBMITTER: Kinyanjui T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5898763 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature