Pandemic influenza in Papua New Guinea: a modelling study comparison with pandemic spread in a developed country

Milne, George J; Baskaran, Pravin; Halder, Nilimesh; Karl, Stephan; Kelso, Joel

Each household contains uniquely identified individuals. Children and adults are assigned by an allocation algorithm to school classes and workplaces according to age based on class sizes and employee numbers obtained in the field survey. The field survey described above revealed that 50% of school-age children do not attend school, and this percentage is thought to be similar to most urban areas in PNG, with still lower rates in rural areas. Of those children not attending school 50% are allocated to neighbourhood hubs, as described below. In addition to contact occurring in households and mixing hubs, community contact is introduced to capture mixing which occurs outwith these locales and in the wider community. The community contact occurs at a fixed rate, similarly to the Albany model.