ESD Search Seminar

Contact Tracing to Control Endemic Infectious Disease

By Benjamin Armbruster

Abstract:
Contact tracing (also known as partner notification) is a disease control strategy where the contacts of infected individuals are sought and tested. Contact tracing is the primary means of disease control for low-prevalence infectious diseases, but its cost-effectiveness has not been modeled. My research merges traditional epidemic control models (as epidemiologists might develop) with OR concepts of resource allocation and economic analysis, and develops models analyzing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of contact tracing. I use differential equation and network simulation models to estimate the costs and effectiveness of various screening and contact tracing strategies, and I use optimization to determine the optimal disease control strategy (for example, the optimal allocation of resources between screening and contact tracing).