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Epidemic control in weighted social networks
by
Ken Eames
University of Cambridge
Social networks provide a valuable tool for understanding the link between population mixing behaviour and epidemic dynamics. This understanding motivates the design and development of targeted epidemic control through the identification of the most high-risk individuals. Social mixing surveys demonstrate clearly that not all interactions are of equal strength and suggest the use of weighted networks to capture variations in contact intensity. Here, we present the results of simulation models used to investigate targeted interventions in weighted networks; we compare the use of different individual-based measures of risk to prioritise individuals for intervention and conclude that the existence of weighted social networks offers new challenges and new opportunities for disease control. We discuss the data requirements of proposed intervention strategies and present some new data on the mixing patterns of one of the most epidemiologically significant population subgroups: school children from the ages of 5 to 11.
Date received: May 7, 2008
Copyright © 2008 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cawd-57.