Seminário de Biomatemática

7 de Outubro 2008, 16h00

Modeling the impact of vaccine safety belief dynamics on vaccination coverage
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, sala Theano

Flavio Coelho (CMAF/Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian)

Abstract:

Individual perception of vaccine safety is an important factor in determining a person's adherence to a vaccination program. This perception, or belief, about the safety of a given vaccine, is not a static parameter but a variable subject to environmental influence. To complicate matters, percetion of risk (or safety) does not correspond to actual risk. In this paper we propose a way to model the dynamics of such beliefs in the context of a realistic epidemiological scenario. The methodology proposed is based on Bayesian inference, and can be extended to model more complex belief systems associated with decision models.

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