title: Modelling the effects of media during an influenza epidemic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mass media is used to inform individuals regarding diseases within a population. The effects of mass media during disease outbreaks have been studied in the mathematical modelling literature, by including 'media functions' that affect transmission rates in mathematical epidemiological models. The choice of function to employ, however, varies, and thus, epidemic outcomes that are important to inform public health may be affected.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a survey of the disease modelling literature with the effects of mass media. We present a comparison of the functions employed and compare epidemic results parameterized for an influenza outbreak. An agent-based Monte Carlo simulation is created to access variability around key epidemic measurements, and a sensitivity analysis is completed in order to gain insight into which model parameters have the largest influence on epidemic outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Epidemic outcome depends on the media function chosen. Parameters that most influence key epidemic outcomes are different for each media function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different functions used to represent the effects of media during an epidemic will affect the outcomes of a disease model, including the variability in key epidemic measurements. Thus, media functions may not best represent the effects of media during an epidemic. A new method for modelling the effects of media needs to be considered.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Collinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics & Statistics, York University, Toronto, Canada. jmheffer@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Heffernan
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058872:Epidemics; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology; D008402:Mass Media; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method
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