Parameterizing infectious disease transmission parameters with subgroup-level stratifications: An application in Helicobacter pylori transmission in the United States

Co-authors: Jeremy D. Goldhaber-Fiebert, Fernando Alarid-Escudero

We propose an approach to parsimoniously parameterize heterogeneous mixing to allow for multiple dimensions of stratification (“a multi-stratification Who-Acquires-Infection-From-Whom (WAIFW) matrix”), extending prior methods, and then describe a feasible data and calibration procedure to operationalize it. To demonstrate the feasibility of the method and its importance in estimating intervention effects and their uncertainty, we apply it to an age- and race/ethnic-structured susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) transmission in the United States.