Impact of screening, treatment, and misdiagnose on lymphatic filariasis transmission: a mathematical model

Abstract

A novel mathematical model is constructed in this article to understand the impact of active case findings and treatment to suppress the spread of lymphatic filariasis. The model is constructed as a nine-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations which considering the effect of misdiagnosis in the screening process. The analytical study was carried out to analyze the existence and stability of the equilibrium points, the control reproduction number, and the nonexistence of backward bifurcations in the model. Our analytical results show that the condition of free-filariasis will always be established if the control reproduction number is less than one. On the other hand, we always have a unique and stable endemic equilibrium if and only if the control reproduction number is greater than one. Our sensitivity analysis has shown that a combination of active case detection, duration, and successful probability of treatment could effectively reduce the intensity of lymphatic filariasis spread in the population.