I'm working with a SIR infection model, which is (dS)/(dt)=-betaIS, (dI)/(dt)=betaIS-gammaI, (dR)/(dt)=gammaI

Sonia Elliott

Sonia Elliott

Answered question

2022-10-20

Discrete version of continuous SIR model
I'm working with a SIR infection model, which is
d S d t = β I S d I d t = β I S γ I d R d t = γ I
in continuous time, where S, I, and R are the proportion of Susceptible, Infected, and Recovered, respectively.
However, since I am working with fixed-width discrete-time data, I think it would be more appropriate to modify the equations accordingly. I know this is incorrect (based on getting a negative values for γ ^ and β ^ , neither of which should be negative):
S t + 1 = β I t S t I t + 1 = β I t S t γ I t R t + 1 = γ I t
Ultimately, I would like to estimate β and γ by doing regression on
I t + 1 = β ( I t S t ) + γ ( I t ) + U t , where  U t ~ N ( 0 , σ 2 )
or whatever the discrete version is.

Answer & Explanation

Finnegan Stone

Finnegan Stone

Beginner2022-10-21Added 11 answers

Step 1
You've missed some things. Remember a derivative is the small Δ limit of, for example, ( S ( t + Δ ) S ( t ) ) / Δ. So, your first differential equation is like
S ( t + Δ ) S ( t ) Δ = β I S
or, where Δ is your time interval width,
S t + 1 = S t ( 1 Δ β I t ) ..
You missed the S(t) term on the right hand side. S should be decreasing with time, and looking at the equation we see that this would be the case if β is positive.
Step 2
Also note that S + I + R = N is constant, so you only need 2 differential equations, you can always find R by doing n S I.

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