Abstract
It is a common medical folk-practice for parents to encourage their children to contract certain infectious diseases while they are young. This folk-practice is controversial, in part, because it contradicts the long-term public health goal of minimizing disease incidence. We study an epidemiological model of infectious disease in an age-structured population where virulence is age-dependent and show that, in some cases, the optimal behavior will increase disease transmission. This provides a rigorous justification of the concept of "endemic stability," and demonstrates that folk-practices may have been historically justified.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2711-2722 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Bulletin of Mathematical Biology |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2007 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
Cite this
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Optimal timing of disease transmission in an age-structured population. / Reluga, Timothy; Medlock, Jan; Poolman, Eric; Galvani, Alison P.
In: Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, Vol. 69, No. 8, 01.11.2007, p. 2711-2722.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimal timing of disease transmission in an age-structured population
AU - Reluga, Timothy
AU - Medlock, Jan
AU - Poolman, Eric
AU - Galvani, Alison P.
PY - 2007/11/1
Y1 - 2007/11/1
N2 - It is a common medical folk-practice for parents to encourage their children to contract certain infectious diseases while they are young. This folk-practice is controversial, in part, because it contradicts the long-term public health goal of minimizing disease incidence. We study an epidemiological model of infectious disease in an age-structured population where virulence is age-dependent and show that, in some cases, the optimal behavior will increase disease transmission. This provides a rigorous justification of the concept of "endemic stability," and demonstrates that folk-practices may have been historically justified.
AB - It is a common medical folk-practice for parents to encourage their children to contract certain infectious diseases while they are young. This folk-practice is controversial, in part, because it contradicts the long-term public health goal of minimizing disease incidence. We study an epidemiological model of infectious disease in an age-structured population where virulence is age-dependent and show that, in some cases, the optimal behavior will increase disease transmission. This provides a rigorous justification of the concept of "endemic stability," and demonstrates that folk-practices may have been historically justified.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=35649002017&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11538-007-9238-5
DO - 10.1007/s11538-007-9238-5
M3 - Article
VL - 69
SP - 2711
EP - 2722
JO - Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
JF - Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
SN - 0092-8240
IS - 8
ER -