Epidemics of panic during a bioterrorist attack--a mathematical model.
A bioterrorist attacks usually cause epidemics of panic in a targeted population. We have presented epidemiologic aspect of this phenomenon as a three-component model--host, information on an attack and social network. We have proposed a mathematical model of panic and counter-measures as the function of time in a population exposed to a bioterrorist attack. The model comprises ordinary differential equations and graphically presented combinations of the equations parameters. Clinically, we have presented a model through a sequence of psychic conditions and disorders initiated by an act of bioterrorism. This model might be helpful for an attacked community to timely and properly apply counter-measures and to minimize human mental suffering during a bioterrorist attack.
Military Institute of Preventive Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia.
Vladan
V
Radosavljevic
Desanka
D
Radunovic
Goran
G
Belojevic
D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010200:Panic; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors