Human Transmitting Capacity

Author
Affiliation

University of Washington


The human transmitting capacity (HTC) is a measure of how many days a host spends fully infectious.


Related | HTC Matrix | Parasite Generation


If we start with a basic formula for \(R_0,\) we can rewrite it with three components:

The general formula is:

\[R_0 = b V D\]

Definition

Let \(c(\alpha)\) denote the expected infectiousness at infection age \(\alpha,\) and let \(r(\alpha)\) denote the fraction of infections that have persisted to age \(\alpha.\) A formula for the HTC on day \(\ell > t\) for an infection that started on day \(t\) is: \[D_\ell(t, \ell) = c(\ell) r(\ell)\] and \[D = \int_t^\infty c(\ell) r(\ell) d\ell.\]

Example

In Ross’s model, infections clear at a constant rate, \(r,\) so \[D = \int_0^\infty c e^{-r\alpha} d\alpha = \frac{c}{r}.\]

References