Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Vaccination algorithm: What's the optimal method for allocating vaccinations if the supply is limited? One approach is the selectively target the "super-spreaders" who are the the nodes in a network that are most-connected to other nodes. This recently published algorithm looks like an effective method to find those super-spreader nodes, even if no one initially knows who they are. The algorithm can also be used to limit the spread of computer viruses as well as to disrupt terrorist networks.