Age classes stratified by risk and adaptive behavior during epidemics

Abstract

Heterogeneity in contact patterns, mortality rates, and transmissibility among and between different age classes can have significant effects on epidemic outcomes. Adaptive behavior in response to the spread of an infectious pathogen may give rise to complex epidemiological dynamics. Here we model an infectious disease in which adaptive behavior incentives, and mortality rates, can vary between three age classes. The model indicates that age-dependent variability in infection aversion can produce more complex epidemic dynamics at lower levels of pathogen transmissibility.