Making sure that vaccination works

We have all become more aware of the dangers of influenza this year, but why is it so dangerous? Julia Gog explains that the unusual structure of the influenza genome can lead to dangerous evolutionary jumps, and how mathematics is helping to understand how the virus replicates.

An activity for the classroom

Some preliminary results on the swine flu pandemic

How do we know how many people have got it?

Plus starts a new project on health and medicine

How does it spread?

The travels of bank notes give important clues to epidemiologists

Researchers have used mathematical modelling to understand the evolution of the influenza virus.

To study a system, mathematicians begin by identifying its most crucial elements, and try to describe them in simple mathematical terms. As Phil Wilson tells us, this simplification is the essence of mathematical modelling.

Can mathematics help defend against another attack?

Over the past one hundred years, mathematics has been used to understand and predict the spread of diseases, relating important public-health questions to basic infection parameters. Matthew Keeling describes some of the mathematical developments that have improved our understanding and predictive ability.