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hi Andrei

my first thought was too naive. I now think this is a "delay differential
equation", which means the R package deSolve might work, which maybe you
are already using (you haven't said what package but your code just after
"##Solve equations" uses "ode" - which is in deSolve, though probably also
in other packages).

anyway if I can learn deSolve I'll look at your model.

Greg





> Hi Greg and all,
>
> yes, it is an ordered differential equation. I'm no mathemetician so not
> very good with matrices - on my reading list for today! Although I'm
> also on call so we'll see how much time I have... Re exponentials:
> yes. I think we're still very early on in the curve unfortunately :/
>
> Best wishes,
>
>      -- Andrei
>
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 07:40:54AM -0000, Greg Dropkin wrote:
>> hi Andrei, all
>>
>> I'll get to this later but first thought is that your model looks like a
>> linear differential equation.
>>
>> put v = state vector whose components are the compartments.
>>
>> dv/dt = A%*%v where A is a matrix with a lot of 0s and some parameters
>> which you've estimated from the literature. If that's right, the
>> solution
>> is
>>
>> v(t) = exp(tA)%*%v(0)
>>
>> to compute exp(tA), diagonalise it.
>>
>> anyway I'll look when I can.
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> > Hi Greg and all,
>> >
>> > Yes, I agree with you - I think (am hoping?!) this is going to
>> backfire
>> > quite spectacularly on the conservatives. A silver lining we might not
>> > want...
>> >
>> > I've now put my code up on the web:
>> >
>> >  * https://0xacab.org/asm/covid19
>> >
>> > I will reiterate it is *very* crude - the number of deaths is circa 10
>> > million or more for the UK, which is clearly ridiculous. The main
>> point
>> > I was trying to make was about "flattening the curve" - I want to show
>> > how this relates to ITU bed occupation at some point, but don't have
>> > time at present. I'm also not retired and guess I should do some
>> 'real'
>> > work at some point ;-)
>> >
>> > Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts about it. I don't have any
>> data
>> > to hand about long term immunity - my guess is it's pretty high, but
>> it
>> > really depends on the disease. For instance, we all have *some*
>> immunity
>> > to the flu, but different strains mutate and circulate etc, so that
>> > level is different every year.
>> >
>> > Tomorrow I'm on call, I'm not quite sure if/when I'll be able to catch
>> > up with the flood of emails that is bound to come to this list. But
>> > great to see the list being used in productive ways!
>> >
>> > Best wishes,
>> >
>> >      -- Andrei
>> >
>> > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:15:31PM -0000, Greg Dropkin wrote:
>> >> Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 22:15:31 -0000 (UTC)
>> >> hi
>> >>
>> >> even without any modelling, if they think 60% is the threshold they
>> are
>> >> aiming for over 30m adults to be infected, which means over 300,000
>> >> deaths
>> >> at 1%, and 100,000 deaths at 0.3%. Which you would have thought is
>> >> political suicide, once the public realises.
>> >>
>> >> if time permits I'll try your model and send you some R code to
>> compare
>> >>
>> >> Do you have data for other diseases on the percentage of survivors
>> who
>> >> get
>> >> long term immunity?
>> >>
>> >> Greg
>> >>
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> >
>> >> > Paul Fine is amazing, he taught me loads about infectious disease
>> >> > epidemiology and was the one who got me interested in the subject
>> >> > (albeit, as a secondary interest/hobby - my main focus is perinatal
>> >> and
>> >> > non-communicable disease epidemiology). Interestingly enough, he
>> >> started
>> >> > life as a veterinarian before getting into human epi...
>> >> >
>> >> > Anyway, the UK's herd immunity idea is, put mildly, bollocks. I've
>> >> > written another post today in which I've started to explain some of
>> >> the
>> >> > flaws with the UK strategy although I haven't completely elaborated
>> >> them
>> >> > - don't want to freak people out too much all at once!  Please feel
>> >> free
>> >> > to comment, either directly on the article or on list or just
>> directly
>> >> > to me via email. Both articles I've written are on my site:
>> >> >
>> >> >  * https://www.andreimorgan.net
>> >> >
>> >> > Best wishes,
>> >> >
>> >> >      -- Andrei
>> >> >
>> >> > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 09:25:02PM +0000, Thomas Cox wrote:
>> >> >> I think the first two paragraphs should have made that clear.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Abstract
>> >> >>
>> >> >> The term “herd immunity” is widely used but carries a variety of
>> >> >> meanings [1–7]. Some authors use it to describe the proportion
>> immune
>> >> >> among individuals in a population. Others use it with reference to
>> a
>> >> >> particular threshold proportion of immune individuals that should
>> >> lead
>> >> >> to a decline in incidence of infection. Still others use it to
>> refer
>> >> to
>> >> >> a pattern of immunity that should protect a population from
>> invasion
>> >> of
>> >> >> a new infection. A common implication of the term is that the risk
>> of
>> >> >> infection among susceptible individuals in a population is reduced
>> by
>> >> >> the presence and proximity of immune individuals (this is
>> sometimes
>> >> >> referred to as “indirect protection” or a “herd effect”). We
>> provide
>> >> >> brief historical, epidemiologic, theoretical, and pragmatic public
>> >> >> health perspectives on this concept.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Though coined almost a century ago [8], the term “herd immunity”
>> was
>> >> not
>> >> >> widely used until recent decades, its use stimulated by the
>> >> increasing
>> >> >> use of vaccines, discussions of disease eradication, and analyses
>> of
>> >> the
>> >> >> costs and benefits of vaccination programs. An important milestone
>> >> was
>> >> >> the recognition by Smith in 1970 [9] and Dietz in 1975 [10] of a
>> >> simple
>> >> >> threshold theorem—that if immunity (ie, successful vaccination)
>> were
>> >> >> delivered at random and if members of a population mixed at
>> random,
>> >> such
>> >> >> that on average each individual contacted R0 individuals in a
>> manner
>> >> >> sufficient to transmit the infection [11, 12], then incidence of
>> the
>> >> >> infection would decline if the proportion immune exceeded (R0 −
>> >> 1)/R0,
>> >> >> or 1 –1/R0. This is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Thomas Cox PhD RN
>> >> >> [log in to unmask]
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>      On Saturday, March 14, 2020, 05:13:28 PM EDT, John
>> Whittington
>> >> >> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>  At 20:59 14/03/2020, Thomas Cox wrote:
>> >> >> >and yet...
>> >> >> >https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/52/7/911/299077
>> >> >>
>> >> >> After a very quick skip through, that all seems to be about
>> >> >> immunological herd immunity in the sense I described it.  Could
>> you
>> >> >> perhaps direct me to the part which you were wanting to bring to
>> my
>> >> >> attention?  Thanks
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Kind Regards,
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> John
>> >> >>
>> >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> >> Dr John Whittington,      Voice:    +44 (0) 1296 730225
>> >> >> Mediscience Services      Fax:      +44 (0) 1296 738893
>> >> >> Twyford Manor, Twyford,    E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
>> >> >> Buckingham  MK18 4EL, UK
>> >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
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>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Andrei Morgan MRCPCH, MSc, PhD (Epidemiology / Neonatology)
>> >> > https://www.andreimorgan.net
>> >> >
>> >> > Honorary Clinical Lecturer,
>> >> > Department of Neonatology,
>> >> > Institute for Women's Health,
>> >> > University College London
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > ******************************************************
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>> >> and
>> >> > cannot be assumed to be representative of the range of views held
>> by
>> >> > subscribers to the Radical Statistics Group. To find out more about
>> >> > Radical Statistics and its aims and activities and read current and
>> >> past
>> >> > issues of our newsletter you are invited to visit our web site
>> >> > www.radstats.org.uk.
>> >> > *******************************************************
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> > --
>> > Andrei Morgan MRCPCH, MSc, PhD (Epidemiology / Neonatology)
>> > https://www.andreimorgan.net
>> >
>> > Honorary Clinical Lecturer,
>> > Department of Neonatology,
>> > Institute for Women's Health,
>> > University College London
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
> --
> Andrei Morgan MRCPCH, MSc, PhD (Epidemiology / Neonatology)
> https://www.andreimorgan.net
>
> Honorary Clinical Lecturer,
> Department of Neonatology,
> Institute for Women's Health,
> University College London
>
>

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