Second Quantization Approach to Stochastic Epidemic Models

We show how the standard field theoretical language based on creation and annihilation operators may be used for a straightforward derivation of closed master equations describing the population dynamics of multivariate stochastic epidemic models. In order to do that, we introduce an SIR-inspired stochastic model for hepatitis C virus epidemic, from which we obtain the time evolution of the mean number of susceptible, infected, recovered and chronically infected individuals in a population whose total size is allowed to change.