Tackling SARS is proving to be a complex problem. One aspect that is becoming increasingly important is the modeling and prediction of the virus' spread and mutation among the population. This angle is not necessarily the concern of medical researchers, but mathematicians who can calculate the possibilities of transmission of a "signal."
Mathematician Dr. Abba Gumel of the department of mathematics at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, is one of a unique team of researchers consisting of virologists, infectious disease specialists and mathematicians studying the transmission of SARS and other infectious diseases. He has been conducting research on the development of models for the spread of infectious diseases for many years, in collaboration with scientists across Canada.
"What we're doing is translating the actions of people into mathematical equations and determining how they interact," says Gumel. "We're focusing on how diseases can be transmitted among hospital workers, but we will soon be studying activity in other locations such as airports and train stations."
The research group MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems) recently announced the formation of this team of researchers from across Canada that will study the transmission of SARS from a mathematical perspective. One of the goals of the team is to use mathematical and statistical modeling as a quick and cost-effective tool for evaluating proposed control strategies prior to their implementation. The ultimate objective is to suggest effective strategies that will allow public health professionals to design policies to achieve the eradication of SARS.
RSS