Strep A causes a huge global burden of disease, from sore throats to rheumatic heart disease. Our team is developing a computer simulation model, OpenStrepA, to help researchers tackle this disease.
Taking our learnings from twenty years’ worth of developing the mechanistic, individual-based model OpenMalaria, we wanted OpenStrepA to do two things: to capture how Strep A behaves biologically and how it spreads through a population (a “mechanistic” model); and simulate the disease for each individual person within that population (an “individual-based” model).
This type of model helps us estimate the local and global burden of Strep A. It also helps us test the likely health impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions like vaccines before they’re rolled out.
The immediate aims of OpenStrepA are to:
- Help answer questions in Strep A vaccine development.
- Quantify the harm that Strep A causes globally (its global burden).
- Investigate how to prevent Strep A.
- Release the model as open-source software for the broader research community, as well as policy makers and public health stakeholders.