Title: Spatial Dynamics of Influenza Hospitalizations in the US Elderly
Speaker: Elena Naumova, Tufts University School of Medicine
Date: November 20, 2006 12:00 - 1:30 pm
Location: DIMACS Center, CoRE Bldg, Room 431, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ
Abstract:
I suggest that the spatial variations in influenza hospitalization in the frail elderly subpopulations stem from differences between individual "immunological" and "chronological" age influenced by the presence of environmental stressors and preexisting medical conditions. I illustrate such variability by using dynamic maps of weekly county-specific rates of Pneumonia & Influenza hospitalizations for four influenza seasons based on 6 million actual, individual records of hospitalization. To describe the traveling waves of seasonal flu I used a set of characteristics (peak timing, duration, and amplitude). To model spatial dynamics I consider a model in which peak timing followed two scenarios of weak and strong disorder.
see: DIMACS Computational and Mathematical Epidemiology Seminar Series 2006 - 2007