Recently, many researchers undertaking health technology assessment of screening or vaccination programs for infectious diseases have opted for dynamic transmission models for their analysis, rather than the typical static models (Markov and decision tree), as they are better at predicting the indirect effects of interventions, such as those that may affect disease transmission within the interested population or the ecology of the pathogen. Nevertheless, these models have not yet become part of the traditional tool box of health economists, due in part to the fact that the results are complex and difficult to analyze, requiring extensive computational skills. This paper aims to provide an overview of the concept of a dynamic transmission models and outline recommendations on how best to determine whether a dynamic approach is appropriate when evaluating health technologies and interventions for infectious diseases.

Keywords: Technology assessment, Cost-benefit analysis, Dynamic transmission model, Infectious diseases, Vaccines