Application of the replication–transmission relativity theory in the development of multiscale models of infectious disease dynamics

Abstract

Despite the existence of a powerful theoretical foundation for the development of multiscale models of infectious disease dynamics in the form of the replication–transmission relativity theory, the majority of current modelling studies focus more on single-scale modelling. The explicit aim of this study is to change the current predominantly single-scale modelling landscape in the design of planning frameworks for the control, elimination and even eradication of infectious disease systems through the exploitation of multiscale modelling methods based on the application of the replication–transmission relativity theory. We first present a structured roadmap for the development of multiscale models of infectious disease systems. The roadmap is tested on hookworm infection. The testing of the feasibility of the roadmap established a fundamental result which can be generalized to confirm that the complexity of an infectious disease system is encapsulated with a level of organization spanning a microscale and a macroscale.