The Impact of Awareness Programs with Recruitment and Delay on the Spread of an Epidemic

Abstract

A compartment epidemic model with delay is given to discuss the impact of awareness programs on the spread and control of infectious diseases in a given region. It is assumed that there is a constant recruitment rate in the cumulative density of awareness programs, and further it is assumed that awareness programs can influence the susceptible to a limited extent. The system exhibits two equilibria: the disease-free equilibrium is stable if the basic reproduction number is less than unity for any delay and the unique endemic equilibrium exhibits Hopf-bifurcation under certain conditions. Numerical simulations prove the results of analysis and the significance of awareness programs in preventing and controlling the diseases, by investigating the relationship between the proportion of the infective and the dissemination rate and the implementation rate, respectively.