Publication

Modeling the impact of mass influenza vaccination and public health interventions on COVID-19 epidemics with limited detection capability

Authored by:

Li, Q., Tang, B., Bragazzi, N. L., Xiao, Y., & Wu, J.

Full Citation:

Li, Q., Tang, B., Bragazzi, N. L., Xiao, Y., & Wu, J. 2020. Modeling the impact of mass influenza vaccination and public health interventions on COVID-19 epidemics with limited detection capability. Mathematical Biosciences. 325.

View Publication

Additional key concepts from this publication:

Vaccines can alleviate the disruptions to health systems and health services caused by disease outbreaks.

Key Evidence: The potential for a spike in COVID-19 concurrent with influenza season could threaten to overwhelm healthcare systems, particularly in resource-limited contexts. A double burden of influenza and COVID-19 cases could also increase risk of cross-infection and transmission in hospital settings. This mathematical modeling study found that increasing influenza vaccine uptake would help manage respiratory outbreaks coinciding with peak flu season and thus reduce the potential strain on healthcare systems responding to COVID-19.