Abstract
BackgroundMathematical models have been used to study the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks and predict the effectiveness of potential mass vaccination campaigns. However, models depend on simplifying assumptions to be tractable, and the consequences of making such assumptions need to be studied. Two assumptions usually incorporated by mathematical models of vector-borne disease transmission is homogeneous mixing among the hosts and vectors and homogeneous distribution of the vectors.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe explored the effects of mosquito movement and distribution in an individual-based model of dengue transmission in which humans and mosquitoes are explicitly represented in a spatial environment. We found that the limited flight range of the vector in the model greatly reduced its ability to transmit dengue among humans. A model that does not assume a limited flight range could yield similar attack rates when transmissibility of dengue was reduced by 39%. A model in which mosquitoes are distributed uniformly across locations behaves similarly to one in which the number of mosquitoes per location is drawn from an exponential distribution with a slightly higher mean number of mosquitoes per location. When the models with different assumptions were calibrated to have similar human infection attack rates, mass vaccination had nearly identical effects.Conclusions/SignificanceSmall changes in assumptions in a mathematical model of dengue transmission can greatly change its behavior, but estimates of the effectiveness of mass dengue vaccination are robust to some simplifying assumptions typically made in mathematical models of vector-borne disease.
Highlights
Mathematical models of dengue transmission can help elucidate the dynamics of infectious disease transmission and will likely play a role in planning for interventions such as mass vaccination [1,2]
The effect of mosquito movement and distribution assumptions on dengue incidence We studied the relationship between mosquito mobility and dengue transmission in the model
We define the infection attack rate to be the total number of individuals infected by any of the four circulating serotypes during a simulated year divided by the population size
Summary
Mathematical models of dengue transmission can help elucidate the dynamics of infectious disease transmission and will likely play a role in planning for interventions such as mass vaccination [1,2]. One of the most common assumptions used in mathematical models of vector-borne disease transmission is that of homogeneous mixing of the vectors and their human hosts [1,4,5,6,7,8]. Individual-based models can be used to explicitly represent the locations of each human and mosquito and infection can only occur between co-located hosts and vectors. Mathematical models have been used to study the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks and predict the effectiveness of potential mass vaccination campaigns. Two assumptions usually incorporated by mathematical models of vector-borne disease transmission is homogeneous mixing among the hosts and vectors and homogeneous distribution of the vectors
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