A Mathematical Investigation of Vaccination Strategies to Prevent a Measles Epidemic
- Raymond Kenneth Smith (North Carolina A&T State University)
- Aleah Archibald (North Carolina A&T State University)
- Elijah MacCarthy (North Carolina A&T State University)
- Liping Liu (North Carolina A&T State University)
- Nicholas S Luke (North Carolina A&T State University)
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to quantitatively investigate vaccination strategies to prevent measles epidemics. A disease model which incorporates susceptible, vaccinated, infected, and recovered populations (SVIR) is used to investigate the process of how an epidemic of measles can spread within a closed population where a portion of the population has been vaccinated. The model is used to predict the number of infections and resulting reproductive number for the measles based on a variety of initial vaccination levels. The model is further used to investigate the concept of herd immunity, which states that if a certain percentage of the population is vaccinated then it will provide protection for the entire population. Results generated from these modeling efforts suggest that approximately 95\% of the population should be vaccinated against the measles in order to establish a herd immunity.
Keywords: SVIR Model, Measles
How to Cite:
Smith, R. K., Archibald, A., MacCarthy, E., Liu, L. & Luke, N. S., (2016) “A Mathematical Investigation of Vaccination Strategies to Prevent a Measles Epidemic”, North Carolina Journal of Mathematics and Statistics 2(1).
Downloads:
Download PDF