FRED

RESOURCE DESCRIPTION

FRED is a planning-focused disease transmission and vaccination decision support tool that is publicly available online. It currently supports simulation of measles outbreaks and influenza outbreaks. FRED allows decision makers to simulate the effect of vaccination on a hypothetical outbreak in their area, showing the effectiveness of different vaccination strategies. This information helps inform vaccine distribution and stocking decisions. Outputs include the predicted number of cases and recovered cases over time, and the geographic locations of those cases, given different control measure approaches. Inputs to the measles model are the state and county of the outbreak location. Inputs to the influenza model are the city of the outbreak location, the epidemic parameters (basic reproductive rate and a duration for the simulation to run, in days), and control measures (school close duration, and how many local cases are needed for a school to close). FRED was developed by the University of Pittsburgh through the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) effort. MIDAS is a collaboration of research and informatics groups that aims to develop infectious disease modeling methods and tools to investigate disease spread and support decision makers. If a disease outbreak occurs, the MIDAS network may be asked to develop specific models and analysis to aid public officials in their decision-making processes. Groups currently involved in MIDAS research centers consist of academic institutions, National Laboratories, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) laboratories.

BROAD DATA CATEGORIES

• Health

SPECIFIC DATA ELEMENTS

• Disease outbreak (natural)

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

US States