Mathematical Modeling in the Study and Control of Triatominae populations

JORGE RABINOVICH

Chagas’ disease vectors

CRC Press. Boca Ratón

Lugar: Florida; Año: 1987; p. 119 - 146

Mathematical modeling. as an approach. a method. and a way of thinking. has gained more and more acceptance in the last 50 years. both in the academic as well as in the managerial endeavors of biology-related scientific and technical activities. The field of epidemiology, particularly of those diseases involving vector transmission and complex environmental conditions. has been no exception. This was to be expected. for these diseases are usually characterized by (1) occurrence in rural and/or poverty sectors of the population. (2) ability to affect large numbers of people. (3) availability of abundant but uncritical and heterogeneous information. and (4) reception of considerable funds. national and! or international. for transmission control. These characteristics created a strong demand for practical as well as urgent solutions. for which no straightforward recipe seems to be available. Furthermore. in many cases the dynamics of these disease in terms of transmission is poorly understood; thus. vector-borne diseases were natural candidates to receive help from the field of mathematical modeling. Although the thrust of this chapter is the application of mathematical modeling to triatomine populations and control of transmission of Chagas' disease. l thought it would be useful to preface it with a general section of conceptual and technical issues, plus a section on the experiences of mathematical modeling in two other important vector-borne diseases: malaria and schistosomiasis.