Volume 29, Number 8—August 2023
Etymologia
Etymologia: Reproduction Number
Reproduction Number [′ṝe-prə-′dak-shən ′nəm-bər]
Figure
Figure. History and concept of basic reproduction number (R0). *The total reproduction of the population.
The basic reproduction number (R0, pronounced R naught) is derived from demography terminology used to estimate the overall population reproduction rate. R0 is an essential metric in the study of epidemics (Figure). This value measures the estimated number of new cases of an infection caused by an infectious person in a population of disease-susceptible person.
The effective reproduction number (Rt) is similar to R0, but Rt measures the number of persons infected by infectious person when some portion of the population has already been infected. This idea can be traced back to the work performed by Richard Bockh, Alfred Lotka and others.
A modern application of R0 in epidemiology was reported in 1952 when George Macdonald constructed population models about the spread of malaria. Macdonald used the notation Z0 instead of R0 to differentiate it from the preceding demography terminology. The notation R0 was adopted instead of Z0 during the Dahlem conference in 1982.
References
- Anderson RM. Transmission dynamics and control of infectious disease agents. In: Anderson RM, May RM, editors. Population biology of infectious diseases: life sciences report 25, Dahlem// conference. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 1982. p. 149–76.
- Delamater PL, Street EJ, Leslie TF, Yang YT, Jacobsen KH. Complexity of basic reproduction number (R0). Emerg Infect Dis. 2019;25:1–4. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
- Heesterbeek JA. A brief history of R0 and a recipe for its calculation. Acta Biotheor. 2002;50:189–204. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
- Smith DL, Battle KE, Hay SI, Barker CM, Scott TW, McKenzie FE. Ross, macdonald, and a theory for the dynamics and control of mosquito-transmitted pathogens. PLoS Pathog. 2012;8:
e1002588 . DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
Figure
Cite This ArticleOriginal Publication Date: July 11, 2023
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Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:
Balbir B. Singh, Centre for One Health, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab 141004, India
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