Mathematics
can
help
public
health
workers
better
understand
and
influence
human
behaviours
that
lead
to
the
spread
of
infectious
disease,
according
to
a
study
from
the
University
of
Waterloo.
Current
models
used
to
predict
the
emergence
and
evolution
of
pathogens
within
host
populations
do
not
include
social
behaviour.
“We
tend
to
treat
disease
systems
in
isolation
from
social
systems,
and
we
don’t
often
think
about
how
they
connect
to
each
other,
or
influence
each
other,”
said
Chris
Bauch,
co-author
and
a
professor
in
the
Department
of
Applied
Mathematics
at
Waterloo.
“This
gives
us
a
better
appreciation
of
how
social
reactions
to
infectious
diseases
can
influence
which
strains
become
prominent
in
the
population.”
Read
the
full
press
release.