Article

A Mathematical Investigation of Vaccination Strategies to Prevent a Measles Epidemic

Authors

• • 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).