The effect of public health awareness and behaviors on the transmission dynamics of syphilis in Northwest China, 2006–2018, based on a multiple-stages mathematical model

Abstract

Syphilis, a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by the bacterium treponema pallidum, has re-emerged as a global public health issue with an estimated 12 million people infected each year. Understanding the impacts of health awareness and behaviors on transmission dynamics of syphilis can help to establish optimal control strategy in different regions. In this paper, we develop a multiple-stage SIRS epidemic model taking into account the public health awareness and behaviors of syphilis. First, the basic reproduction number is obtained, which determines the global dynamics behaviors of the model. We derive the necessary conditions for implementing optimal control and the corresponding optimal solution for mitigation syphilis by using Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. Based on the data of syphilis in Ningxia from 2006 to 2018, the parameterizations and model calibration are carried out. The fitting results are in good agreement with the data. Moreover, sensitivity analysis shows that the public awareness induced protective behaviors C e , compliance of condom-induced preventability ε and treatment for the primary syphilis m 1 play an important role in mitigating the risk of syphilis outbreaks. These results can help us gain insights into the epidemiology of syphilis and provide guidance for the public health authorities to implement health education programs.

Spatial Heterogeneity and Its Influencing Factors of Syphilis in Ningxia, Northwest China, from 2004 to 2017: A Spatial Analysis

“…It is suggested that rational allocation of medical resources can reduce the incidence of syphilis to a certain extent. Consistent with previous studies [ 11 , 39 , 46 , 47 ], developed areas may be able to provide high levels of coverage of health services and more effective approach to achieve syphilis health education, screening, and optimum treatment services. Therefore, the relevant departments should increase the allocation of health resources to the economically underdeveloped high-risk areas.…”

The Effects of Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior on Sexually Transmitted Disease in China: Infodemiology Study of the Internet Search Queries

“…Its subproduct, the Baidu index, is a public database based on Baidu that records web-based and mobile phone search queries at national and subnational scales [ 20 ]. An increasing number of studies have used the Baidu index to build predictive models for geographical disease surveillance, especially for STDs [ 21 , 22 ]. However, to date, few studies have linked the Baidu index with OHISBs to investigate specific effects on disease outcomes.…”

Effects of contact tracing and non-Markovian awareness process on the spread of air-borne diseases

“…In addition, the awareness of infection among infected individuals plays a key role in the spread of slowly progressive diseases. Many researchers focused on studying the roles of the public awareness among susceptible individuals in the spreading of diseases, and showed that raising awareness of protection among susceptible individuals can effectively contain epidemic spread [17][18][19][20][21]. However, to examine the effects of the infection awareness among infected individuals on the epidemic theoretically is still a great challenge.…”