A cost-based comparison of quarantine strategies for new emerging diseases

Anuj Mubayi, Christopher Kribs Zaleta, Maia Martcheva, Carlos Castillo-Chavez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

A classical epidemiological framework is used to provide a preliminary cost analysis of the effects of quarantine and isolation on the dynamics of infectious diseases for which no treatment or immediate diagnosis tools are available. Within this framework we consider the cost incurred from the implementation of three types of dynamic control strategies. Taking the context of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong as an example, we use a simple cost function to compare the total cost of each mixed (quarantine and isolation) control strategy from a public health resource allocation perspective. The goal is to extend existing epi-economics methodology by developing a theoretical framework of dynamic quarantine strategies aimed at emerging diseases, by drawing upon the large body of literature on the dynamics of infectious diseases. We find that the total cost decreases with increases in the quarantine rates past a critical value, regardless of the resource allocation strategy. In the case of a manageable outbreak resources must be used early to achieve the best results whereas in case of an unmanageable outbreak, a constant-effort strategy seems the best among our limited plausible sets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)687-717
Number of pages31
JournalMathematical Biosciences and Engineering
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2010

Keywords

  • Contact tracing
  • Cost-effectiveness analysis
  • Isolation
  • Quarantine
  • Reproductive number
  • SARS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Modeling and Simulation
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • Computational Mathematics
  • Applied Mathematics

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