Review of operations research tools and techniques used for influenza pandemic planning

Abstract

Many public health officials are concerned about a possible influenza pandemic. The three pandemics in the twentieth century killed between 50 and 100 million people and the 2009 H1N1 “Swine Flu” exposed vulnerabilities that we still have to influenza epidemics. Operations research tools and techniques can analyze public health interventions to mitigate the impact of pandemic influenza. In this chapter we review an array of examples of how operations research tools can be used to improve pandemic influenza prevention and response. From this, we derive insights into the appropriateness of certain techniques for answering specific questions and we propose preliminary policy recommendations. We then discuss opportunities for future research.