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International Workshop “Facing the Challenge of Infectious Diseases – Integrating mathematical modeling, computational thinking
The spread of infectious diseases remains a serious medical burden around the world, causing an estimated 15 million deaths each year. The emergence or re-emergence of viruses such as SARS, avian influenza, HIV-AIDS, Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and the evolution of previously known strains which develop resistance to specific drugs represent few examples of the serious problems that public health and medical science research need to address. Next to the tremendous advances in modern medicine and health sciences, epidemic models aided by computer simulations and information technologies represent an increasingly important tool for the understanding of transmission dynamics, and the analysis of epidemic patterns. Thanks to the increased computational power and innovative use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), sophisticated modeling approaches informed by realistic and detailed data sets are now feasible and aim at predicting a variety of possible scenarios, evaluating treatment and control strategies, helping and supporting the decision process at the scientific, medical and public health level.
