| 1. |
- Thompson, Robin N., et al.
(författare)
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Key questions for modelling COVID-19 exit strategies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 287:1932
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Combinations of intense non-pharmaceutical interventions (lockdowns) were introduced worldwide to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Many governments have begun to implement exit strategies that relax restrictions while attempting to control the risk of a surge in cases. Mathematical modelling has played a central role in guiding interventions, but the challenge of designing optimal exit strategies in the face of ongoing transmission is unprecedented. Here, we report discussions from the Isaac Newton Institute 'Models for an exit strategy' workshop (11-15 May 2020). A diverse community of modellers who are providing evidence to governments worldwide were asked to identify the main questions that, if answered, would allow for more accurate predictions of the effects of different exit strategies. Based on these questions, we propose a roadmap to facilitate the development of reliable models to guide exit strategies. This roadmap requires a global collaborative effort from the scientific community and policymakers, and has three parts: (i) improve estimation of key epidemiological parameters; (ii) understand sources of heterogeneity in populations; and (iii) focus on requirements for data collection, particularly in low-to-middle-income countries. This will provide important information for planning exit strategies that balance socio-economic benefits with public health.
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| 2. |
- Massad, E., et al.
(författare)
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On the origin and timing of Zika virus introduction in Brazil
- 2017
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Ingår i: Epidemiology and Infection. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0950-2688 .- 1469-4409. ; 145:11, s. 2303-2312
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The timing and origin of Zika virus (ZIKV) introduction in Brazil has been the subject of controversy. Initially, it was assumed that the virus was introduced during the FIFA World Cup in June-July 2014. Then, it was speculated that ZIKV may have been introduced by athletes from French Polynesia (FP) who competed in a canoe race in Rio de Janeiro in August 2014. We attempted to apply mathematical models to determine the most likely time window of ZIKV introduction in Brazil. Given that the timing and origin of ZIKV introduction in Brazil may be a politically sensitive issue, its determination (or the provision of a plausible hypothesis) may help to prevent undeserved blame. We used a simple mathematical model to estimate the force of infection and the corresponding individual probability of being infected with ZIKV in FP. Taking into account the air travel volume from FP to Brazil between October 2013 and March 2014, we estimated the expected number of infected travellers arriving at Brazilian airports during that period. During the period between December 2013 and February 2014, 51 individuals travelled from FP airports to 11 Brazilian cities. Basing on the calculated force of ZIKV infection (the per capita rate of new infections per time unit) and risk of infection (probability of at least one new infection), we estimated that 18 (95% CI 12-22) individuals who arrived in seven of the evaluated cities were infected. When basic ZIKV reproduction numbers greater than one were assumed in the seven evaluated cities, ZIKV could have been introduced in any one of the cities. Based on the force of infection in FP, basic reproduction ZIKV number in selected Brazilian cities, and estimated travel volume, we concluded that ZIKV was most likely introduced and established in Brazil by infected travellers arriving from FP in the period between October 2013 and March 2014, which was prior to the two aforementioned sporting events.
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| 3. |
- Massad, E, et al.
(författare)
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The risk of infectious diseases introduction into non-infected countries by travelers visiting endemic countries
- 2015
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Ingår i: Tropical medicine & international health. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1360-2276 .- 1365-3156. ; 20:Suppl. 1, s. 340-340
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This work is an attempt to estimate the risk of infections importation and exportation by travelers. In it we propose a model that takes into account the force of infection of the disease in the endemic country, which can either be a visited country (source of infection importation) or a country from where local residents export the infection when travel in the latent condition for disease-free countries. The model is deterministic but a preliminary stochastic formulation is presented in the appendix. It considers two countries: one is the host home-country and the other is the source country (with an endemic infectious disease). Susceptible individuals travel from their home-country to the endemic country and eventually return infected. The input of the model is the force of infection at the visited/source country which is assumed to be known and we assume that, in the case of disease importation, travelers are subject to the same risk of infection as local residents but do not contribute to it. In the case of disease exportation, the model calculates the probability that a latent individual travels from an endemic (or epidemic) country to a disease-free country. We exemplify the model with two distinct situation, namely, the risk of dengue importation from Thailand to Europe and the risk of Ebola exportation from Liberia to the USA.Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
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