SPOTLIGHT: H1N1 Influenza

Reuters/Lewis Whyld - A nurse prepares a H1N1 swine flu vaccination.
Ross A. Hammond, October 21, 2009
As the nation and the world continue to grapple with H1N1, and while delivery of the vaccine in the United States faces delays, school closures are one policy tool under consideration to slow spread of the pandemic. Ross Hammond, co-author of a recent report that quantified the economic effects of school closures, and Fred Barbash, Politico senior editor, took questions in a live web chat about the implications and potential costs of this approach.
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H1N1 Influenza, Pandemic Disease, Health Care, Public Health
SPOTLIGHT: H1N1 Influenza

REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi - A worker disinfects a classroom in Texas.
Howard Lempel, Ross A. Hammond and Joshua M. Epstein, September 30, 2009
Policymakers are looking at school closures to contain the spread of an H1N1 influenza outbreak. In the first comprehensive U.S. study of the economic cost of school and daycare center closures, the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics at Brookings finds that closing all schools in the United States for four weeks could cost up to $47 billion and lead to a reduction of up to 17% in key health care personnel.
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H1N1 Influenza, Public Health, Health Care, Pandemic Disease, Agent-based Models
SPOTLIGHT: Agent-based Models

Simulation of a pandemic beginning in Tokyo.
Joshua M. Epstein, August 06, 2009
Joshua M. Epstein explains that agent-based computational models can capture irrational behaviour, complex social networks and global scale — all essential in confronting H1N1.
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Agent-based Models, H1N1 Influenza, Health Care, Pandemic Disease, Global Health
Award

Reuters/Adrees Latif - Influenza virus cells, high-lighted through a florescent microscope
The NIH Director's Pioneer Award is among the most competitive and prestigious awards in American research, designed to support scientists of extraordinary creativity for high-risk projects with the potential to have a transformative impact in the biomedical or behavioral sciences.
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