A mathematical model suggests a new way to allocate vaccines

How to stop an outbreak

Aug 20th 2009
from The Economist print edition


The existing formula is simple. When vaccinating against influenza, inoculate those most susceptible to the disease’s wrath. Such vulnerable types include the elderly (who are the most likely to die if infected) and infants (whose immune systems are not fully developed). This seems a reasonable policy, and it is the one that has long been promulgated by America’s Center for Disease Control (CDC). Only recently has it been extended to include children up to the age of 18, on the basis that they are more likely than other people to catch flu in the first place, through enforced socialising at school—even though they are at little risk of dying from it.

Read the full article at http://is.gd/2qQnp