Mathematical modelling of UK rubella vaccination programs

In this article we discuss mathematical modelling of vaccination programs for rubella in the UK. We briefly discuss rubella before outlining the underlying mathematical model. Age-structured serological data is used to estimate the force of infection in the absence of vaccination and hence the mixing matrix. Homogeneous, proportional and symmetric mixing are considered. The estimated mixing matrix is used to evaluate the basic reproduction number R0 and minimum elimination vaccination programs using one stage and two stage vaccination strategies.