ON THE OPTIMAL VACCINATION STRATEGIES FOR HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIOUS DISEASES

We consider an SEIR epidemic model for an infectious disease that spreads in the human host population through both horizontal and vertical transmission. A periodically varying contact rate is introduced to simulate recurrent outbreaks. We use the optimal control theory to assess the disease control. Optimal vaccination strategies to minimize both the disease burden and the intervention costs are analyzed. We derive the optimality system and solve it numerically. The theoretical findings are then used to simulate a vaccination campaign for rubella under several scenarios, by using epidemiological parameters obtained by real data.