Optimizing vaccine allocation at different points in time during an epidemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 began spreading around the globe in April of 2009 and vaccination started in October of 2009. In most countries, by the time vaccination started, the second wave of pandemic H1N1 2009 was already under way. With limited supplies of vaccine, we are left to question whether it may be a good strategy to vaccinate the high-transmission groups earlier in the epidemic, but it might be a better use of resources to protect instead the high-risk groups later in the epidemic. To answer this question, we develop a deterministic epidemic model with two age-groups (children and adults) and further subdivide each age group in low and high risk.

Methods and findings

We COMPARE optimal vaccination strategies started at various points in time in two

SUBMITTER: Matrajt L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2978681 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature