Abstract

We present a cellular automata model developed to study the evolution of an infectivity nucleus in several conditions and for two kinds of epidemiologically different diseases. We analyse the role of the model parameters, concerning the epidemiological and demographic aspects of the problem, and of the evolution rules in relation to the spread of such infectious diseases, the arising of periodic temporal modulations related to the infectivity and recovery fronts, and the evolution of travelling waves. Among the obtained results we find analogies to endemic situations and pandemics. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.