综合利用了流行病学、心理学和博弈论，Sanjay Basu及其同事开发了一个计算机模型，用于研究公众认知和经济情况对人类乳头瘤病毒（HPV）疫苗接种的影响。
这组科学家利用了对美国的适合接种疫苗的儿童的父母的调查数据，结果发现目前对于HPV疫苗接种的认知和经济因素都可能阻止了免疫接种水平足以达到让群体的健康效果最大化并让与HPV疾病有关的健康开支最小化的程度。HPV疫苗可能有潜力减少宫颈癌病例，但是对该疫苗的质疑仍然存在，诸如它的副作用及费用。这组作者利用博弈论模拟了人类在关键情况下的行为，从而审视了与美国公众对HPV免疫接种计划可能的接受程度有关的因素，并证明了为了实现一个成功的免疫接种策略，科学家和决策者可能需要首先消除家长认为青少年性行为增加的担忧。这组作者说，考虑到和看病以及接受疫苗接种有关的成本，经济成本也造成了一个社会学的障碍。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
PNAS published online before print November 17, 2008, doi:10.1073/pnas.0808114105
Integrating epidemiology, psychology, and economics to achieve HPV vaccination targets
Sanjay Basu, Gretchen B. Chapman, and Alison P. Galvani
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines provide an opportunity to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. Optimization of cervical cancer prevention programs requires anticipation of the degree to which the public will adhere to vaccination recommendations. To compare vaccination levels driven by public perceptions with levels that are optimal for maximizing the community's overall utility, we develop an epidemiological game-theoretic model of HPV vaccination. The model is parameterized with survey data on actual perceptions regarding cervical cancer, genital warts, and HPV vaccination collected from parents of vaccine-eligible children in the United States. The results suggest that perceptions of survey respondents generate vaccination levels far lower than those that maximize overall health-related utility for the population. Vaccination goals may be achieved by addressing concerns about vaccine risk, particularly those related to sexual activity among adolescent vaccine recipients. In addition, cost subsidizations and shifts in federal coverage plans may compensate for perceived and real costs of HPV vaccination to achieve public health vaccination targets.
