Modeling Contagion

Posted May 22, 2017 by sgibbs

Reflect on other contagions in the news or local to your region.  Discuss how agent-based modeling could be used to study and understand the spread of that contagion.  

Comments

Submitted by eso on Thu, 06/15/2017 - 15:16 · Permalink

When contagion was mentioned, I immediately thought back to the 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak. I was a high school student at the time and I remember thoroughly wiping down the desks became part of the routine of cleaning up. I heard that at summer camp, they had a quarantine area where the affected counselors were isolated for days. 

Although this was a past contagion, it was a great lesson about how diseases are spread. I would be interested in modeling a similar interaction using StarLogo Nova. In the process of defining the rules, I expect I can learn more about how diseases are spread and under what conditions. I anticipate that this could be used in a health unit to teach my scholars about how important it is to wash your hands and use proper etiquette when sneezing and such.

Submitted by kcwgtt on Wed, 06/21/2017 - 12:59 · Permalink

I live in the Washington DC area and the ebola outbreak was national news. With contagions like this, agent-based modeling has great potential in simulating the movement of the disease and the medical response to the outbreak. 

Submitted by person11d on Sun, 08/06/2017 - 14:11 · Permalink

How they use computer programming to determine the severity of diseases spreading was so interesting. There are so many factors that contribute to the speed and effectiveness of a disease spreading, I found it amazing how each probability can be coded and the result is a simulation of how quickly a disease can be spread or prevented. Amazing.