param.net: Epidemic Parameters for Stochastic Network Models

In EpiModel: Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Disease Dynamics

Epidemic Parameters for Stochastic Network Models

Description

Sets the epidemic parameters for stochastic network models simulated with netsim().

Usage

param.net(
  inf.prob,
  inter.eff,
  inter.start,
  act.rate,
  rec.rate,
  a.rate,
  ds.rate,
  di.rate,
  dr.rate,
  inf.prob.g2,
  rec.rate.g2,
  a.rate.g2,
  ds.rate.g2,
  di.rate.g2,
  dr.rate.g2,
  ...
)

Arguments

inf.prob	Probability of infection per transmissible act between a susceptible and an infected person. In two-group models, this is the probability of infection to the group 1 nodes. This may also vary with the infected partner's duration of infection, given as a by_infection_duration() object (see Parameters by Duration of Infection below). In multi-layer models, this may be a multilayer() object with one entry (a probability or a by_infection_duration object) per network layer (see Multi-Layer Parameters below).
inter.eff	Efficacy of an intervention which affects the per-act probability of infection. Efficacy is defined as 1 - the relative hazard of infection given exposure to the intervention, compared to no exposure.
inter.start	Time step at which the intervention starts, between 1 and the number of time steps specified in the model. This will default to 1 if inter.eff is defined but this parameter is not.
act.rate	Average number of transmissible acts per partnership per unit time (see act.rate Parameter below). This may also vary with the infected partner's duration of infection, given as a by_infection_duration() object (see Parameters by Duration of Infection below), or be a multilayer() object with one entry per network layer (see Multi-Layer Parameters below).
rec.rate	Average rate of recovery with immunity (in SIR models) or re-susceptibility (in SIS models). The recovery rate is the reciprocal of the disease duration. For two-group models, this is the recovery rate for group 1 persons only. This parameter is only used for SIR and SIS models. This may also vary with the duration of infection, given as a by_infection_duration() object (see Parameters by Duration of Infection below).
a.rate	Arrival or entry rate. For one-group models, the arrival rate is the rate of new arrivals per person per unit time. For two-group models, the arrival rate is parameterized as a rate per group 1 person per unit time, with the a.rate.g2 rate set as described below.
ds.rate	Departure or exit rate for susceptible persons. For two-group models, it is the rate for group 1 susceptible persons only.
di.rate	Departure or exit rate for infected persons. For two-group models, it is the rate for group 1 infected persons only.
dr.rate	Departure or exit rate for recovered persons. For two-group models, it is the rate for group 1 recovered persons only. This parameter is only used for SIR models.
inf.prob.g2	Probability of transmission given a transmissible act between a susceptible group 2 person and an infected group 1 person. It is the probability of transmission to group 2 members. As for inf.prob, it may be a by_infection_duration() or multilayer() object.
rec.rate.g2	Average rate of recovery with immunity (in SIR models) or re-susceptibility (in SIS models) for group 2 persons. This parameter is only used for two-group SIR and SIS models. As for rec.rate, it may be a by_infection_duration() object.
a.rate.g2	Arrival or entry rate for group 2. This may either be specified numerically as the rate of new arrivals per group 2 person per unit time, or as NA, in which case the group 1 rate, a.rate, governs the group 2 rate. The latter is used when, for example, the first group is conceptualized as female, and the female population size determines the arrival rate. Such arrivals are evenly allocated between the two groups.
ds.rate.g2	Departure or exit rate for group 2 susceptible persons.
di.rate.g2	Departure or exit rate for group 2 infected persons.
dr.rate.g2	Departure or exit rate for group 2 recovered persons. This parameter is only used for SIR model types.
...	Additional arguments passed to model.

Details

param.net sets the epidemic parameters for the stochastic network models simulated with the netsim() function. Models may use the base types, for which these parameters are used, or new process modules which may use these parameters (but not necessarily). A detailed description of network model parameterization for base models is found in the Network Modeling for Epidemics tutorials.

For base models, the model specification will be chosen as a result of the model parameters entered here and the control settings in control.net(). One-group and two-group models are available, where the latter assumes a heterogeneous mixing between two distinct partitions in the population (e.g., men and women). Specifying any two-group parameters (those with a .g2) implies the simulation of a two-group model. All the parameters for a desired model type must be specified, even if they are zero.

Value

An EpiModel object of class param.net.

The act.rate Parameter

A key difference between these network models and DCM/ICM classes is the treatment of transmission events. With DCM and ICM, contacts or partnerships are mathematically instantaneous events: they have no duration in time, and thus no changes may occur within them over time. In contrast, network models allow for partnership durations defined by the dynamic network model, summarized in the model dissolution coefficients calculated in dissolution_coefs(). Therefore, the act.rate parameter has a different interpretation here, where it is the number of transmissible acts per partnership per unit time.

Parameters by Duration of Infection

The inf.prob, act.rate, and rec.rate arguments (and their .g2 companions) may vary with the duration of infection, given as by_infection_duration() objects, by stage or one value per time step since infection. For example, inf.prob = by_infection_duration(c(acute = 0.5, chronic = 0.1), durations = c(2, Inf)) gives a 0.5 transmission probability for the first two time steps of the infected partner's infection and 0.1 from the third time step on, until the person recovers, departs, or the simulation ends. This is variation over the course of each infection, not over calendar time; to change a parameter at a given time step of the simulation, use scenarios or parameter updaters (see vignette("model-parameters", package = "EpiModel")).

With the built-in model types, a plain vector of length greater than one passed to these arguments is an error. Before EpiModel 2.7.0, the built-in modules read such a vector as varying with the duration of infection; wrap it in by_infection_duration() for the same model. Custom modules read their parameters as they choose, so plain vectors remain available to them.

Multi-Layer Parameters

In models with more than one network layer (a list of netest() and netclique() objects passed to netsim()), the inf.prob, inf.prob.g2, and act.rate arguments may be given per layer as multilayer() objects with one entry per layer, in the order of the layer list: inf.prob = multilayer(0.45, 0.10) sets a per-act transmission probability of 0.45 on the first layer and 0.10 on the second. Each entry may itself be a by_infection_duration() object. The built-in infection modules look up the entry for the layer each discordant edge belongs to; a parameter that is not a multilayer object applies to every layer. The transmission matrix records the layer of each transmission in its network column.

Using a Parameter data.frame

It is possible to set input parameters using a specifically formatted data.frame object. The first 3 columns of this data.frame must be:

• param: The name of the parameter. If this is a non-scalar parameter (a vector of length > 1), end the parameter name with the position on the vector (e.g., "p_1", "p_2", ...).

• value: the value for the parameter (or the value of the parameter in the Nth position if non-scalar).

• type: a character string containing either "numeric", "logical", or "character" to define the parameter object class.

In addition to these 3 columns, the data.frame can contain any number of other columns, such as details or source columns to document parameter meta-data. However, these extra columns will not be used by EpiModel.

This data.frame is then passed in to param.net under a data.frame.params argument. Further details and examples are provided in the "Working with Model Parameters in EpiModel" vignette. Note that releases through v2.6.1 documented this argument as data.frame.parameters, which was never an accepted name; passing it now produces an error pointing to data.frame.params.

Parameter Uncertainty

To vary parameter values across simulations for uncertainty or sensitivity analysis, draw the values in advance into a data.frame with one row per draw, convert it with create_scenario_list(), and apply each resulting scenario to the base parameters with use_scenario(). The "Working with Model Parameters in EpiModel" vignette works through an example. The random.params argument that served this purpose through v2.6.2 has been removed; passing it now produces an error.

Parameters with New Modules

To build original models outside of the base models, new process modules may be constructed to replace the existing modules or to supplement the existing set. These are passed into the control settings in control.net(). New modules may use either the existing model parameters named here, an original set of parameters, or a combination of both. The ... allows the user to pass an arbitrary set of original model parameters into param.net. Whereas there are strict checks with default modules for parameter validity, this becomes a user responsibility when using new modules.

See Also

Use init.net() to specify the initial conditions and control.net() to specify the control settings. Run the parameterized model with netsim().

Examples

## Example SIR model parameterization
# Network model estimation
nw <- network_initialize(n = 100)
formation <- ~edges
target.stats <- 50
coef.diss <- dissolution_coefs(dissolution = ~offset(edges), duration = 20)
est <- netest(nw, formation, target.stats, coef.diss, verbose = FALSE)

# Parameters, initial conditions, and control settings
param <- param.net(inf.prob = 0.3, act.rate = 2, rec.rate = 0.02)
param

init <- init.net(i.num = 10, r.num = 0)
control <- control.net(type = "SIR", nsteps = 10, nsims = 3, verbose = FALSE)

# Simulate the model
sim <- netsim(est, param, init, control)
sim

EpiModel documentation built on Oct. 16, 2026, 5:07 p.m.