Control for some approximations to chain-binomial epidemic models

Abstract A policy of immunization is considered for the Greenwood and Reed-Frost chain-binomial epidemic models. In the case of the Reed-Frost model the assumption is made that the probability of contact between two individuals is either small or large. The principle of optimality is used to derive dynamic programming equations for both deterministic and stochastic versions of these models. Optimal immunization policies together with corresponding optimal costs are presented.