| dc.description.abstract | Cholera, a diarrheal disease caused by a pathogenic virulent bacteria
known as Vibrio cholerae, a_ects both children and adults and can kill
within hours if left untreated. It continues to persist in developing coun-
tries where there is inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facil-
ities. Recent cholera metapopulation models assume a uniform e_cacy
of the control strategies across the communities involved and that, once
vaccinated, the individuals are fully protected from the infection. These
assumptions may not be entirely true or realistic since cholera vaccines do
not confer 100% immunity and community speci_c demographics and the
behavior of individuals are likely to a_ect the implementation and success
of the control strategies. This study developed and analysed a metapopu-
lation model for cholera with imperfect vaccine and variable media aware-
ness as the control strategies. The results of stability analysis show that
the disease free equilibrium point is both locally and globally asymptoti-
cally stable when the basic reproduction number is less than unity while
the endemic equilibrium points are locally asymptotically stable when
the basic reproduction number is greater than unity. Results from simu-
lation analysis done using existing epidemiological data are in agreement
with the analytic results. The simulation results further show that e_-
cient media awareness reduces the transmission rate and that even with
imperfect vaccine, cholera transmission is reduced. It is therefore advis-
able that health practitioners embrace the use of both vaccination and
media awareness when designing and implementing community speci_c
intervention strategies. | en_US |
