Metrics
26 readers on Mendeley
Journal article
Multiscale model for pedestrian and infection dynamics during air travel
Physical Review E, Vol.95
95
2017
PMID: 28618588
Web of Science ID: WOS:000402477600002
Metrics
139 Record Views
Abstract
In this paper, we developed a novel multiscale model combining social-force based pedestrian movement with a population level stochastic infection transmission dynamics framework. The model is then applied to study the infection transmission within airplanes and the transmission of Ebola virus through casual contacts. Drastic limitations on air-travel during epidemics, such as during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, carry considerable economic and human costs. We use the computational model to evaluate the effects of passenger movement within airplanes and air-travel policies on the geospatial spread of infectious diseases. We found that boarding policy by an airline is more critical for infection propagation compared to deplaning policy. Enplaning in two sections resulted in fewer infections than the currently followed strategy with multiple zones. In addition, we found that small commercial airplanes are better than larger ones at reducing number of new infections in a flight. Aggregated results indicate that passenger movement strategies and airplane size predicted through these network models can have significant impact on an event like 2014 Ebola epidemic. The methodology developed here is generic and can be readily modified to incorporate impact from outbreak of other directly transmitted infectious diseases.
Related links
Details
- Title
- Multiscale model for pedestrian and infection dynamics during air travel
- Publication Details
- Physical Review E, Vol.95
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- American Physical Society; United States
- Series
- 95
- Identifiers
- WOS:000402477600002; 99380090783206600
- Academic Unit
- Computer Science
- Language
- English