Modified SIR Model Yielding a Logistic Solution

Abstract: The SIR pandemic model suffers from an unrealistic assumption: The rate of removal from the infectious class of individuals is assumed to be proportional to the number of infectious individuals. This means that a change in the rate of infection is simultaneous with an equal change in the rate of removal. A more realistic assumption is that an individual is removed at a certain time interval after having been infected. A simple modified SIR model is proposed which implements this delay, resulting in a single delay differential equation which comprises the model. A solution to this equation which is applicable to a pandemic is of the form A+B L(t) where L(t) is a logistic function, and A and B are constants. While the classical SIR model is often an oversimplification of pandemic behavior, it is instructive in that many of the fundamental dynamics and descriptors of pandemics are clearly and simply defined. The logistic model is generally used descriptively, dealing as it does with only the susceptible and infected classes and the rate of transfer between them. The present model presents a full but modified SIR model with a simpler logistic solution which is more realistic and equally instructive.