Mathematical Modeling In The Age Of The Pandemic

One cannot watch or read about the news these days without hearing about the models for COVID-19 or the testing that must occur to approve vaccines or treatments for the disease. The purpose of Mathematical Modeling in the Age of a Pandemic is to shed some light on the meaning and interpretations of many of the types of models that are or might be used in the presentation of analysis. Understanding the concepts presented is essential in the entire modeling process of a pandemic. From the virus itself and its infectious rates and deaths rates to explain the process for testing a vaccine or eventually a cure, the author builds, presents, and shows model testing. This book is an attempt, based on available data, to add some validity to the models developed and used, showing how close to reality the models are to predicting "results" from previous pandemics such as the Spanish flu in 1918 and more recently the Hong Kong flu. Then the author applies those same models to Italy, New York City, and the United States as a whole. Modeling is a process. It is essential to understand that there are many assumptions that go into the modeling of each type of model. The assumptions influence the interpretation of the results. Regardless of the modeling approach the results generally indicate approximately the same results. This book reveals how these interesting results are obtained.

This compendium represents a set of guides to understanding the challenging scientific, epidemiological, clinical, social, and economic phenomenon that is represented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The book explains the mathematical modeling of COVID-19 infection, with emphasis on traditional epidemiological principles. It represents a rigorous, comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to a complex phenomenon. The chapters take into account the knowledge arising from different disciplines (epidemiology, pathophysiology, immunology, medicine, biology, vaccine development, etc.). It also covers COVID-19 data analysis, giving the reader a perspective of statistics and data science, and includes a discussion about social and economic issues of the pandemic. Each chapter is devoted to a specific topic, and is contributed by experts in epidemiology. Because of its multidisciplinary nature, this book is intended as a reference on mathematical models and basic immunotherapy for COVID-19 for a broad community of readers, from scholars who have scientific training, to general readers who have an interest in the disease.

Based on lecture notes of two summer schools with a mixed audience from mathematical sciences, epidemiology and public health, this volume offers a comprehensive introduction to basic ideas and techniques in modeling infectious diseases, for the comparison of strategies to plan for an anticipated epidemic or pandemic, and to deal with a disease outbreak in real time. It covers detailed case studies for diseases including pandemic influenza, West Nile virus, and childhood diseases. Models for other diseases including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, fox rabies, and sexually transmitted infections are included as applications. Its chapters are coherent and complementary independent units. In order to accustom students to look at the current literature and to experience different perspectives, no attempt has been made to achieve united writing style or unified notation. Notes on some mathematical background (calculus, matrix algebra, differential equations, and probability) have been prepared and may be downloaded at the web site of the Centre for Disease Modeling (www.cdm.yorku.ca).

The book is a comprehensive, self-contained introduction to the mathematical modeling and analysis of disease transmission models. It includes (i) an introduction to the main concepts of compartmental models including models with heterogeneous mixing of individuals and models for vector-transmitted diseases, (ii) a detailed analysis of models for important specific diseases, including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, influenza, Ebola virus disease, malaria, dengue fever and the Zika virus, (iii) an introduction to more advanced mathematical topics, including age structure, spatial structure, and mobility, and (iv) some challenges and opportunities for the future. There are exercises of varying degrees of difficulty, and projects leading to new research directions. For the benefit of public health professionals whose contact with mathematics may not be recent, there is an appendix covering the necessary mathematical background. There are indications which sections require a strong mathematical background so that the book can be useful for both mathematical modelers and public health professionals.

COVID Transmission Modeling: An Insight into Infectious Diseases Mechanism provides an interdisciplinary overview of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and covers various aspects of newer modeling techniques and practical solutions for health emergencies. This book aims to formulate various innovative and pragmatic mathematical, statistical, and epidemiological models using COVID-19 real data sets. It emphasizes interdisciplinary theoretical postulates derived from practical insights and knowledge of public health. Each of the book’s 12 chapters provides invaluable and exploratory tools to enable explicit assumptions, highlights key health indicators, and determines the geometric progression and control measures of the disease. The present developed models will allow readers to extrapolate the exact reason for the outbreak and pave the way for scientific information on vaccine trials and socioeconomic, psychological, and disease burden worldwide. These advanced techniques of modeling and their applications are in greater need than ever for effective connection between mathematicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, researchers, clinicians, and policymakers for making appropriate decisions at the right time. With the advent of emerging health science, all models are demonstrated with real-life data sets and provided with illustrations and eye-catching graphs and diagrams so that the readers can easily understand the concept of COVID-19 pandemic interventions and their control measures, and their impact. Features Addresses all aspects of mitigation/control measures, estimation of transmission rate, economic impact assessment, genetic complexity of COVID-19, herd immunity, and various methods, including newer mathematical, statistical, and epidemiological models in the analysis of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak Covers the application of innovative, advanced statistical and epidemiological models and demonstrates possible solutions toward supportive treatment aspects of COVID-19 and its control measures Includes models that can easily be followed in formulating the mathematical derivations and key points Supplemented with ample illustrations, images, diagrams, and figures This book is aimed at postgraduate students studying medicine and healthcare, mathematics, and statistical information. Researchers will also find this book very helpful.

This contributed volume investigates several mathematical techniques for the modeling and simulation of viral pandemics, with a special focus on COVID-19. Modeling a pandemic requires an interdisciplinary approach with other fields such as epidemiology, virology, immunology, and biology in general. Spatial dynamics and interactions are also important features to be considered, and a multiscale framework is needed at the level of individuals and the level of virus particles and the immune system. Chapters in this volume address these items, as well as offer perspectives for the future.

Curated by the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences from their COVID-19 Math Modelling Seminars, this first in a series of volumes on the mathematics of public health allows readers to access the dominant ideas and techniques being used in this area, while indicating problems for further research. This work brings together experts in mathematical modelling from across Canada and the world, presenting the latest modelling methods as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary aim of this book is to make the content accessible so that researchers share the core methods that may be applied elsewhere. The mathematical theories and technologies in this book can be used to support decision makers on critical issues such as projecting outbreak trajectories, evaluating public health interventions for infection prevention and control, developing optimal strategies to return to a new normal, and designing vaccine candidates and informing mass immunization program. Topical coverage includes: basic susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) modelling framework modified and applied to COVID-19 disease transmission dynamics; nearcasting and forecasting for needs of critical medical resources including personal protective equipment (PPE); predicting COVID-19 mortality; evaluating effectiveness of convalescent plasma treatment and the logistic implementation challenges; estimating impact of delays in contact tracing; quantifying heterogeneity in contact mixing and its evaluation with social distancing; modelling point of care diagnostics of COVID-19; and understanding non-reporting and underestimation. Further, readers will have the opportunity to learn about current modelling methodologies and technologies for emerging infectious disease outbreaks, pandemic mitigation rapid response, and the mathematics behind them. The volume will help the general audience and experts to better understand the important role that mathematics has been playing during this on-going crisis in supporting critical decision-making by governments and public health agencies.