Implementation of web-based respondent-driven sampling among men who have sex with men in Vietnam.

Objective: Lack of representative data about hidden groups, like men who have sex with men (MSM), hinders an evidence-based response to the HIV epidemics. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was developed to overcome sampling challenges in studies of populations like MSM for which sampling frames are absent. Internet-based RDS (webRDS) can potentially circumvent limitations of the original RDS method.

The effect of time distribution shape on a complex epidemic model.

In elaborating a model of the progress of an epidemic, it is necessary to make assumptions about the distributions of latency times and infectious times. In many models, the often implicit assumption is that these times are independent and exponentially distributed. We explore the effects of altering the distribution of latency and infectious times in a complex epidemic model with regional divisions connected by a travel intensity matrix.

The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of a moderately contagious disease.

Background: Much research in epidemiology has been focused on evaluating conventional methods of control strategies in the event of an epidemic or pandemic. Travel restrictions are often suggested as an efficient way to reduce the spread of a contagious disease that threatens public health, but few papers have studied in depth the effects of travel restrictions. In this study, we investigated what effect different levels of travel restrictions might have on the speed and geographical spread of an outbreak of a disease similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).