Contribution to the analysis of malaria epidemiology. IV. Incubation lag

Abstract

Differential equations representing the course of events in the development of endemic malaria have been established by Sir Ronald Ross and discussed somewhat in detail by one of the present authors. In these equations, as treated in anterior publications, no account is taken of the lag introduced by the period of incubation of the malaria parasite. If we take into account the periods of incubation u, v, respectively, of this parasite in man and in the mosquito, the basic equations, though otherwise unchanged in form, now contain the dependent variables taken, not only at time t (the independent variable), but also at times (t-u), (t-v).