title: Analysis of a waterborne disease model with socioeconomic classes.
abstract: Waterborne diseases such as cholera continue to pose serious public health problems in the world today. Transmission parameters can vary greatly with socioeconomic class (SEC) and the availability of clean water. We formulate a multi-patch waterborne disease model such that each patch represents a particular SEC with its own water source, allowing individuals to move between SECs. For a 2-SEC model, we investigate the conditions under which each SEC is responsible for driving a cholera outbreak. We determine the effect of SECs on disease transmission dynamics by comparing the basic reproduction number of the 2-SEC model to that of a homogeneous model that does not take SECs into account. We conclude by extending several results of the 2-SEC model to an n-SEC model.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa. Electronic address: obiora.c.collins@gmail.com.
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University PO Box 842014, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA. Electronic address: srobertson7@vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Suzanne L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa. Electronic address: govinder@ukzn.ac.za.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Govinder
mesh_terms: D050936:Basic Reproduction Number; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008954:Models, Biological; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D000069578:Waterborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*
keywords: Basic reproduction number; Cholera; Disease dynamics; Heterogeneity; Socioeconomic status