Age Structured Models on Complex Networks

Abstract

Human behaviors affect epidemic spread. One of the main components of the disease transmission is the contact rate which in all models so far has been assumed constant or varying by age (age-since-infection) only. However, the contact rate is not constant from individual to individual; in particular some individuals have high contact rate while others may have much lower. This is particularly the case in sexually transmitted diseases but it can be observed in many others. Heterogeneity is produced due to individuals heterogeneous mixing. All the individuals and contacts generate a network. How one network structure (topology) affects the disease transmission has become a hot topic in recent years. This chapter is based on the individual contact behavior to investigate the disease transmission. In order to understand the network structure, we fist introduce some basic knowledge about networks.