VOLUME 24 , ISSUE 11 ( November, 2020 ) > List of Articles
Nithya C Achaiah, Sindhu B Subbarajasetty
Citation Information : Achaiah NC, Subbarajasetty SB. R0 and Re of COVID-19: Can We Predict When the Pandemic Outbreak will be Contained?. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020; 24 (11):1125-1127.
DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23649
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Published Online: 17-02-2021
Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2020; The Author(s).
R0 (R naught) is the basic reproduction number, also known as basic reproduction ratio or rate which is an epidemiological metric used to measure the transmissibility of infectious agents. R0 is a derivative of the following variables—the duration of infectivity after the patient gets infected, the likelihood of transmission of infection per contact between a susceptible person and an infectious individual, and the contact rate. R0 is usually estimated retrospectively from serial epidemiological data or using theoretical mathematical models. Epidemiologists can calculate R0 using contact-tracing data, the most common method is to use cumulative incidence data. When mathematical models are used, R0 values are estimated using ordinary differential equations. R0 of COVID-19 as initially estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) was between 1.4 and 2.4. The forecast is of critical importance as it will help the governments to have an estimate as well as strategize quickly to avoid any unfavorable condition.
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