Waterborne, abiotic and other indirectly transmitted (W.A.I.T.) infections are defined by the dynamics of free-living pathogens and environmental reservoirs

Miles D. Miller-Dickson; Victor A. Meszaros; Francis Baffour-Awuah; Salvador Almagro-Moreno; C. Brandon Ogbunugafor

While the emphasis of our examination will reside in how we analyze several modern epidemic systems with the WAIT framework, for explanatory purposes we will begin by describing how it modifies very basic concepts in a classic, purposefully prosaic susceptible-infected-recovered (S-I-R or SIR) mathematical model. While this is analogous to prior methods used to discuss indirect or environmental transmission [17] , a full appreciation of both cases discussed in this study (cholera and HCV) would benefit from a full, transparent explanation of the WAIT model-building process. The method is defined by modeling changes in a population of susceptible hosts ("S"), infected hosts ("I") and recovered ("R"). Classically, flow through the system is defined by contact between susceptible and infected individuals, often driven by a β factor, or transmission coefficient.