An ODD Protocol for an Agent-Based Model of Hepatitis C Virus Transmission in a Homogeneous Syringe-Sharing Network

Authors

Seun Ale, Technological University DublinFollow
Que Thi Nguyet Nguyen Dr., Technological University DublinFollow
John D. Kelleher Prof., Trinity College Dublin, IrelandFollow
Elizabeth Hunter Dr., University of GalwayFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

ttps://orcid.org/0009-0005-3820-4695

Document Type

Technical Report

Disciplines

Applied mathematics, Computer Sciences, Behavioural sciences biology, Infectious diseases, Epidemiology

Publication Details

This work has not been published. This document serve to replicate or extend the model used in the paper which will be submitted soon.

Abstract

The model described in this ODD is an agent-based model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID). The model assumes homogeneous mixing among syringe-sharing agents, without any form of heterogeneity in the agents interactions or syringe-sharing attitude. All syringe-sharing PWID are treated as identical in terms of their interaction frequency and syringe-sharing probability. Interactions are generated dynamically using proximity-based sampling at each timestep (one day), allowing agents to form syringe-sharing interactions based on spatial closeness. The number of daily interaction events is fixed at the population level, and each syringe-sharing agent has the same probability of sharing during interaction events. Transmission occurs through direct syringe-sharing contacts, with infection probability determined by daily total exposure to infectious partners. The model tracks transitions between susceptible, chronic infection, treatment, cure, and resistance states, and is calibrated to Irish HCV surveillance data. This homogeneous baseline model serves as a reference framework against which the effects of introducing structural (differences in interaction frequency among agents) and behavioural (differences in syringe sharing willingness) heterogeneity can be systematically evaluated.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/810p-ke33

Recommended Citation

Ale, S., Kelleher, J., Nguyen, T. N. Q., & Hunter, E. (2026). An ODD Protocol for an Agent-Based Model of Hepatitis C Virus Transmission with Inter-Group Structural and Behavioural Heterogeneous Syringe-Sharing Networks. Technological University Dublin Arrow Repository.

Funder

Technological University Dublin

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.