title: Collective epidemic models.
abstract: A number of models have been proposed to describe the spread of infectious diseases of the S-I-R type. Most of them account for variable infectivity levels, and very few incorporate variable susceptibility levels. In the present work, a new epidemic model, called a collective model, is constructed that combines both variabilities in a general way. It is then established how to determine the exact distribution of the final state and the severity of the epidemic when the infection process stops.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Statistique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lefèvre
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Picard
mesh_terms: D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D013269:Stochastic Processes