Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34492011›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2021

Improved estimation of time-varying reproduction numbers at low case incidence and between epidemic waves.

Kris V Parag

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
62citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

62 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  3. Machine learning and probabilistic approaches for forecasting infectious disease transmission and cases.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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  9. Article
  10. Data assimilation for estimating time-varying reproduction numbers.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Inferring pathogen superspreading potential using early spatial spread patterns.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
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  19. Article
  20. A renewal-equation approach to estimatingPhilosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025
    Article

2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Kris V ParagMRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-7806-3605

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_PC_19012Medical Research Council MR/R015600/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We construct a recursive Bayesian smoother, termed EpiFilter, for estimating the effective reproduction number, R, from the incidence of an infectious disease in real time and retrospectively. Our approach borrows from Kalman filtering theory, is quick and easy to compute, generalisable, deterministic and unlike many current methods, requires no change-point or window size assumptions. We model R as a flexible, hidden Markov state process and exactly solve forward-backward algorithms, to derive R estimates that incorporate all available incidence information. This unifies and extends two popular methods, EpiEstim, which considers past incidence, and the Wallinga-Teunis method, which looks forward in time. We find that this combination of maximising information and minimising assumptions significantly reduces the bias and variance of R estimates. Moreover, these properties make EpiFilter more statistically robust in periods of low incidence, where several existing methods can become destabilised. As a result, EpiFilter offers improved inference of time-varying transmission patterns that are advantageous for assessing the risk of upcoming waves of infection or the influence of interventions, in real time and at various spatial scales.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsBasic Reproduction NumberBayes TheoremBiasCommunicable Disease ControlCommunicable DiseasesComputational BiologyComputer SimulationComputer SystemsCOVID-19EpidemicsEpidemiological MonitoringHumansIncidenceInfluenza A Virus, H1N1 SubtypeInfluenza, Human

Identifiers

PMID34492011
PMCPMC8448340

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.