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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U2 - 10.1007/s11538-007-9238-5
DO - 10.1007/s11538-007-9238-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 17701261
AN - SCOPUS:35649002017
VL - 69
SP - 2711
EP - 2722
JO - Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
JF - Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
SN - 0092-8240
IS - 8
ER -