In terms of the predicting of the household reproduction number R * , the method is still found to be strongly predictive (as evidence by the small gap between upper and lower estimate) and reliable (compared to numerical estimates). While in influenza, the simulations were close to the upper approximation, here they are closer to the lower approximation, as expected for the more infectious situation of measles transmission. Simulations of transmission within a community of households were again found in Figure 4B to validate the approach. The difference in the shape of the epidemic curve with influenza reflects the different shape of the generation time distribution, though the exponential growth rate is the same.