On the network suppression of the pathogen spread within the healthcare system

In the paper, we describe the transfer of patients in the healthcare system by SIS-type equations coupled by impulses at fixed times. The first aim for these considerations is to provide a rigorous mathematical analysis of a general theoretical model, which incorporates the structure of patients’ transfers. Based on theoretical results, we disprove the intuitions taken from decoupled systems, showing a damping of infection in the case when the transmission rate is locally higher than the recovery rate. Observations on network suppression of pathogen spread allow us to indicate units prone to the high prevalence and propose, possibly low-cost, interventions reducing the infection spread in a whole system. Core results combine the dynamical and structural properties of a system. Finally, we consider a model of the transmission of hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant bacteriae infections, based on real patient hospital records provided by the German insurance company – AOK Lower Saxony, to ilustrate the theoretical considerations.