Modelling and control of epidemics across scales

HERNANDEZ VARGAS, ESTEBAN ABELARDO; GONZÁLEZ, ALEJANDRO HERNÁN; GIULIA GIORDANO

Cancun

Conferencia; IEEE 61st Conference on Decision and Control (CDC); 2022

When facing the global health threat posed by aninfectious disease, predictive mathematical models are crucialnot only to understand and forecast the epidemic evolution, butalso to plan effective control strategies that contrast the diseaseand its spread in the population. This tutorial aims to give abroad overview of the fundamental developments enabled bysystems-and-control methodologies in modelling and controllingepidemiological dynamics across scales, from infection dynamicswithin hosts to contagion dynamics between hosts. The firstpart is focused on modelling and control of infectious diseases inthe host, capturing the dynamic interplay between pathogensand the immune system, and discussing control strategies todesign tailored therapies and treatments to optimally clear theinfection. The second part deals with the spread of contagionbetween hosts: epidemic dynamics are modelled resorting tonetworked systems where the nodes represent individuals andthe links represent interactions that can lead to contagion,and a comparison to compartmental models is carried out.The third part surveys multi-scale models and multi-prongedapproaches to contrast the spread of infectious diseases: aholistic perspective is adopted, including behavioural and socioeconomicaspects along with public health issues, to discussoptimal epidemic control across scales.