Vaccination models and optimal control strategies to dengue

• We investigate the usefulness of a hypothetical dengue vaccine with different efficacies and different ways of distribution.
• Eradication success is shown to depend on the efficacy of vaccine as well as on the vaccination coverage.
• We show how a vaccine reduces morbidity and, simultaneously, the budget related with the dengue disease.
• Simulations cover both epidemic and endemic scenarios.
• Optimal control policies are proposed to minimize the cost of interventions.

As the development of a dengue vaccine is ongoing, we simulate an hypothetical vaccine as an extra protection to the population. In a first phase, the vaccination process is studied as a new compartment in the model, and different ways of distributing the vaccines investigated: pediatric and random mass vaccines, with distinct levels of efficacy and durability. In a second step, the vaccination is seen as a control variable in the epidemiological process. In both cases, epidemic and endemic scenarios are included in order to analyze distinct outbreak realities.