Simulating optimal vaccination times during cholera outbreaks

The use of cholera vaccines has been increasingly recognized as an effective control measure in cholera endemic countries. However, guidelines for using vaccination during cholera outbreaks are still to be established, and it remains an open question as to how and when the vaccines should be deployed to best control ongoing cholera outbreaks. Here we formulate a new optimal control model to assess the value of cholera vaccines in epidemic settings and cost-effective optimal times to deploy a vaccine. Our results suggest that as long as the vaccine prices are sufficiently low, vaccination should always start from or immediately after the onset of a cholera outbreak.