English

Bounds on $R_0$ and final epidemic size when the next-generation matrix $M$ is only partially known

Populations and Evolution 2026-03-10 v2

Abstract

We study a multitype SIR epidemic model where individuals are categorized into different types, and where infection spread is characterized by a next-generation matrix M={mij}M=\{m_{ij}\} with community fractions {πj}\{\pi_j\} for the different types of individuals. We analyse two key quantities: the basic reproduction number R0R_0 and the final epidemic outcome of the different types {τi}\{\tau_i\}. We consider the situation where MM is only partly known, through the row sums {ri}\{r_i\} or the column sums {cj}\{c_j\}, and treat both a general MM and the special but common situation where MM is proportional to a contact matrix satisfying detailed balance. For a general MM, which is partially observed through {ri}\{r_i\} or {cj}\{c_j\}, we obtain sharp upper and lower bounds of R0R_0 and {τi}\{\tau_i\}, but for the case where MM satisfies detailed balance the problem is harder: our obtained bounds for R0R_0 are narrower than the general case but still not sharp, and bounds for the final size are only obtained when there are two types of individual.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.23885,
  title  = {Bounds on $R_0$ and final epidemic size when the next-generation matrix $M$ is only partially known},
  author = {Andrea Bizzotto and Frank Ball and Tom Britton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.23885},
  year   = {2026}
}