A generalized differential equation compartmental model of infectious disease transmission.

ABSTRACT: For decades, mathematical models of disease transmission have provided researchers and public health officials with critical insights into the progression, control, and prevention of disease spread. Of these models, one of the most fundamental is the SIR differential equation model. However, this ubiquitous model has one significant and rarely acknowledged shortcoming: it is unable to account for a disease's true infectious period distribution. As the misspecification of such a biological characteristic is known to significantly affect model behavior, there is a need to develop new modeling approaches that capture such information. Therefore, we illustrate an innovative take on compartmental models, derived from their general formulation as systems of nonlinear Volterra integral equations,

SUBMITTER: Greenhalgh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8449186 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature