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Published on: May 30, 2017
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Influence of human behavior on cholera dynamics
Xueying Wang1, Daozhou Gao2, Jin Wang3
1Department of Mathematics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United States.
Mathematical Biosciences
|June 30, 2015
Summary
Human behavior significantly impacts cholera transmission. Modeling disease prevalence shows that incorporating human movement and contact rates reduces infection levels, spreading speed, and overall risk.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Mathematical Biology
- Infectious Disease Dynamics
Background:
- Cholera remains a significant global health threat, necessitating a deeper understanding of its transmission dynamics.
- Human behavior plays a crucial role in the spread of infectious diseases, but its quantitative impact on cholera is not fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of human behavior on cholera infection dynamics using mathematical modeling.
- To analyze how human movement and contact patterns affect cholera's endemic and epidemic levels, spreading speed, and transmission thresholds.
Main Methods:
- Developed an ordinary differential equation (ODE) model incorporating disease prevalence-dependent contact rates and host shedding.
- Extended the ODE model to a reaction-convection-diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) model to include spatial movement of hosts and pathogens.
- Analyzed local and global dynamics using the basic reproduction number and investigated traveling wave solutions for spread analysis.
Main Results:
- Human behavior significantly reduces endemic and epidemic cholera levels.
- Incorporating human behavior demonstrably decreases cholera spreading speeds.
- The basic reproduction number, a key indicator of infection risk, is lowered by human behavioral factors.
Conclusions:
- Mathematical models incorporating human behavior provide crucial insights into cholera control.
- Human behavior is a critical factor in mitigating cholera outbreaks and reducing disease burden.
- The findings support the development of targeted public health interventions informed by behavioral science.
Keywords:
Basic reproduction numberCholeraDisease threshold dynamicsGlobal stabilityHuman behaviorTraveling wave speedsMore Related Videos
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