Catalytic Models in Epidemiology

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This book presents a new and systematic method which will be valuable in research on population diseases. The author has designed mathematical models (mainly of the catalytic type) which describe the results of population exposure to infection and which allow the measurement of infective forces from data obtainable from surveys. By applying the proper model, containing assumptions characteristic of the epidemiologic picture of the disease, it is possible to make quantitative estimates of the force of the infection and thus to compare different populations or different diseases. Applications include the use of Dr. Hugo Muench’s models in the study of survival ratios in chronic disease. Also, these methods enable epidemiologists to make, from data obtainable from a survey, fairly accurate estimates of the nature and magnitude of exposure to infection of the population in the past.