TITLE:
Optimal Control of Dengue-Malaria Co-Infection Dynamics
AUTHORS:
Eyaran Wilson Ewesit, Mary Wainaina, Damian Maingi
KEYWORDS:
Coinfection Dynamics, Malaria-Dengue Fever Co-Infection, Optimal Control, Pontryagin Maximum Principle, Numerical Simulations
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics,
Vol.14 No.10,
October
9,
2026
ABSTRACT: Malaria-dengue fever coinfection is an emerging problem of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The coinfection is spreading because of the shared geographical regions, shared symptoms, and the shared vectors, that is mosquitoes. This study explored the optimal control of malaria-dengue fever coinfection through mathematical epidemiological modelling. A mathematical epidemiological model for malaria-dengue fever spread dynamics was developed and its sensitivity was calculated using the normalised forward sensitivity index. The objective of sensitivity analysis was to determine the candidate parameters for optimal control. Numerical sensitivity indices were determined. The optimal control problem was designed using retooling of healthcare workers, sensitization of communities, and administration of anti-malaria drugs as the control measures. The objective functional was developed using the Bolza form of the objective function which incorporated all the measures and the target compartments. The Pontryagin maximum principle was used to determine the Hamiltonian of the problem. The study developed four strategies on the implementation of the control measure with each strategy developed from a combination of various control measures. Each strategy was analysed numerically and compared to the others to determine the most effective combination. It was determined that the combination of all the three control parameters was the strategy with the most desirable outcome.