Estimation for a model of multiple malaria infections.

The Macdonald-Dietz model for superinfection in malaria is a time-dependent infinite-server queue. However, the queue is only partially observable; it can be ascertained only as not empty or empty. Moreover, continuous observation of the queue is impossible. This paper derives likelihoods for the model's parameters with incomplete, multiwave panel data, and numerically maximizes those likelihoods for some data from a field study in Nigeria.