[Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases].

Course Description: An application of mathematical methods and concepts to biological processes. The mathematical content is based on differential equations that will be introduced as needed. Topics to be covered include: Single-species population models. We introduce the exponential and the logistic model and discuss their advantages and limitations. Typical examples are population models with births and deaths and harvest models used in fisheries and invasive species control strategies. Interacting population models: epidemic models and their role in predicting the outcome of infectious diseases. We will focus on establishing conditions for preventing or eliminating an epidemic and correlate them with several diseasespecific assumptions: recovery, immunity, disease-induced mortality, and treatment. Examples of non-recoverable infections are given by HIV, or the genital herpes strain HSV-2, while diseases such as influenza provide recovery but may also increase the mortality depending on the infectious strain.