Fuzzy logic and measles vaccination: designing a control strategy.
BACKGROUND
The State of São Paulo, the most populous in Brazil, was virtually free of measles from 1987 until the end of 1996 when the number of cases started to rise. It reached alarming numbers in the middle of 1997 and local health authorities decided to implement a mass vaccination campaign.


METHODS
Fuzzy Decision Making techniques are applied to the design of the vaccination campaign.


RESULTS
The mass vaccination strategy chosen changed the natural course of the epidemic. It had a significant impact on the epidemic in the metropolitan area of São Paulo city, but a second epidemic in the State's interior forced the public health authorities to implement a second mass vaccination campaign 2 months after the first.


CONCLUSIONS
Fuzzy Logic techniques are a powerful tool for the design of control strategies against epidemics of infectious diseases.
Massad
E
E
School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Burattini
M N
MN
Ortega
N R
NR
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017143:Fuzzy Logic; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015994:Incidence; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016730:Program Development; D014611:Vaccination