Newfound Technique Developed By Physicists To Prevent Epidemics

A group of scientists at the University of Aberdeen have developed a mathematical technique to stop epidemics by vaccinating fewer individuals than ever before. They have hailed the tactic -- called "explosive immunization." It will be the quickest and most effective and efficient way to stop the spread of diseases.

The method uses advanced knowledge sets to spot the so-called "superblockers" -- usually well-connected people that move between completely different communities, whose patterns of activity build them a lot of a candidate to pass the said infection.

It is done by targeting them for vaccination; the proportion of this required treatment is dramatically remittent. Early mathematical modeling allotted by the research team has foreseen that targeting United Kingdom's 60 percent of the population with the MMR vaccine. Using the said method would stop a possible epidemic. At the moment, over 90 percent of the population receives the vaccine, according to Phys.org.

This project development of the method is due to the results of the research project funded by Leverhulme Trust together with the COSMOS Horizon2020, involving scientists at the university's School of Natural and Computing Sciences together with a Leverhulme visiting scientist, Professor Peter Grassberger.

Dr. Francisco Perez-Reche is a vital part of the university research team, working together with Professor Antonio Politi and Pau Clusella. The results of their work are revealed in Physical Review Letters, according to the University of Aberdeen.

Dr. Perez-Reche said that it would be ideal to stop epidemics by vaccinating as few people as doable. Not only would this provide a quicker and a lot of economical answer, it would also save money and resources, for agencies might otherwise struggle to address a deadly disease.

He also added that in principle, this may be achieved by identifying the key individuals for vaccination. However, it is a truly difficult task in a world where population is greatly increasing.