Who acquires infection from whom? A sensitivity analysis of transmission dynamics during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium

Age-related heterogeneity in a host population, whether due to how individuals mix and contact each other, the nature of host–pathogen interactions defining epidemiological parameters, or demographics, is crucial in studying infectious disease dynamics. Compartmental models represent a popular approach to address the problem, dividing the population of interest into a discrete and finite number of states depending on, for example, individuals’ age and stage of infection. We study the corresponding linearised system whose operator, in the context of a discrete-time model, equates to a square ma... Mehr ...