Optimal control applied to a temperature dependent schistosomiasis model

Schistosomiasis, the most common water-borne infection worldwide, continues to pose a serious public health challenge in developing nations and to travellers who visit these endemic regions. We apply optimal control on a temperature dependent schistosomiasis model. Our optimal control aims to minimize the pre-patent and patent human population at minimal costs. Our analysis and results throughout the paper highlight the impact of optimal control shaping the future patterns of the disease. Our results show that optimal control can significantly reduce the schistosomiasis burden in the community and in some instance by more than three-fold. In addition, our results show that with low costs the optimal strategy will be carried out at or close to its maximum strength for a sufficiently long period of time, so as minimize the exposure and infection. With high costs, however, the control have to be implemented with reduced or even minimum, strength, to achieve an optimal balance between the costs and effects of control. Our findings suggest that optimal control theory can be useful on minimizing the infected host and vector. The study and its findings can provide a useful framework for designing cost-effective control for schistosomiasis.