Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2011
Capstone Advisor
Christopher Rohlfs
Honors Reader
Jerry Kelly
Capstone Major
Economics
Capstone College
Management
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Behavioral Economics | Economics | Other Economics
Abstract
This paper uses Poisson and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression techniques on panel data from the United Nations World Health Organization’s FluNet to evaluate factors contributing to a country’s H1N1 influenza (swine flu) pandemic outcomes. Countries with higher development (as measured by gross domestic product and the United Nations Human Development Program’s development index) and higher mean annual temperature (as measured in the capital city) tended to have an earlier first reporting of cases. Though subject to reporting biases, the results also suggest that mass vaccinations have a negative effect on weekly reported cases. Countries that would vaccinate in the future (after the vaccine was developed) had on average six times the weekly case reports of countries that wouldn’t vaccinate. Other policies tested (thermal scanners at entry points, flight bans, and pork bans) showed no consistent negative result.
Recommended Citation
Zilora, Melanie A., "Preventing Pandemics: Contributing Factors to Susceptibility During the H1N1 Pandemic" (2011). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 288.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/288
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.