Mumps is a contagious childhood disease. A vaccine has beenwidely available for several decades now, leading to a dramaticdecline in the incidence of the disease. Data from the CDC showthat vaccination coverage against the mumps virus is now about90%.
Here are some estimates of the transmission parameters for themumps virus:
gamma= 0.08
beta= 0.45Â Â Â Â
R0 =5.6
a) What is the meaning of R0 in this disease model?
b) What fraction of the population should be vaccinated in order toprevent the spread of the disease? (explain)
c) Sometimes vaccines are not 100% effective. A single dose of theMMR vaccine is only about 90% effective. How does that change yourestimate for the fraction of the population that should bevaccinated?
