The usual problem for group testing is this: For a given number of individuals and a given prevalence, how many tests T* are required to find every infected individual? In real life, however, the problem is usually different: For a given number of individuals, a given prevalence, and a limited number of tests T much smaller than T*, how can these tests best be used? In this conference paper, we outline some recent results on this problem for two models. First, the "practical" model, which is relevant for screening for COVID-19 and has tests that are highly specific but imperfectly sensitive, shows that simple algorithms can be outperformed at low prevalence and high sensitivity. Second, the "theoretical" model of very low prevalence with perfect tests gives interesting new mathematical results.
翻译:群体测试通常存在的问题是:对于特定数量的个人和特定流行率,需要多少T* 测试才能找到每个感染者?然而,在现实生活中,问题通常不同:对于特定数量的个人,特定流行率和数量有限的T* 测试,如何最好地使用这些测试?在本会议文件中,我们为两种模式概述了这一问题的最新结果。首先,“实用”模型与COVID-19的筛选相关,并且具有非常具体但不够敏感的测试,它表明简单的算法在低流行率和高度敏感的情况下可能优于简单算法。第二,“理论”模型非常低流行率且测试完美,提供了有趣的新数学结果。