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Pant B, Safdar S, Santillana M, Gumel AB. Mathematical Assessment of the Role of Human Behavior Changes on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Dynamics in the United States. Bull Math Biol 2024; 86:92. [PMID: 38888744 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-024-01324-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only presented a major global public health and socio-economic crisis, but has also significantly impacted human behavior towards adherence (or lack thereof) to public health intervention and mitigation measures implemented in communities worldwide. This study is based on the use of mathematical modeling approaches to assess the extent to which SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics is impacted by population-level changes of human behavior due to factors such as (a) the severity of transmission (such as disease-induced mortality and level of symptomatic transmission), (b) fatigue due to the implementation of mitigation interventions measures (e.g., lockdowns) over a long (extended) period of time, (c) social peer-pressure, among others. A novel behavior-epidemiology model, which takes the form of a deterministic system of nonlinear differential equations, is developed and fitted using observed cumulative SARS-CoV-2 mortality data during the first wave in the United States. The model fits the observed data, as well as makes a more accurate prediction of the observed daily SARS-CoV-2 mortality during the first wave (March 2020-June 2020), in comparison to the equivalent model which does not explicitly account for changes in human behavior. This study suggests that, as more newly-infected individuals become asymptomatically-infectious, the overall level of positive behavior change can be expected to significantly decrease (while new cases may rise, particularly if asymptomatic individuals have higher contact rate, in comparison to symptomatic individuals).
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Affiliation(s)
- Binod Pant
- Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Salman Safdar
- Department of Mathematics, University of Karachi, University Road, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
| | - Mauricio Santillana
- Machine Intelligence Group for the Betterment of Health and the Environment, Network Science Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Abba B Gumel
- Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
- Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa.
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2
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Yang L, Fan M, Wang Y, Sun X, Zhu H. Effect of avian influenza scare on transmission of zoonotic avian influenza: A case study of influenza A (H7N9). Math Biosci 2024; 367:109125. [PMID: 38072124 DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2023.109125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Avian influenza scare is a human psychological factor that asserts both positive and negative effects on the transmission of zoonotic avian influenza. In order to study the dichotomous effect of avian influenza scare on disease transmission, taking H7N9 avian influenza as a typical case, a two-patch epidemic model is proposed. The global dynamics and the threshold criteria are established by LaSalle invariant principle and the theory of asymptotic autonomous system. To mitigate the negative effects and curb illegal poultry trade, a game-theoretic model is adopted to explore the optimal policy of culling subsidies to reasonably compensate stakeholders for their economic losses resulting from the scare. The optimal policy of culling subsidy is found to heavily depend on the penalty of illegal poultry trade, the stakeholders' income, the intensity of control measures, and the prevalence level of the disease. The negative effect of avian influenza scare on disease transmission is considerably more significant than the positive effect. In order to avoid a widespread outbreak of zoonotic avian influenza across the region, a comprehensive national global control strategy is essential and effective, even in the presence of the negative effect of the avian influenza scare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liu Yang
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130024, PR China; China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center, Qingdao, Shandong, 266032, PR China
| | - Meng Fan
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, 130024, PR China.
| | - Youming Wang
- China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center, Qingdao, Shandong, 266032, PR China
| | - Xiangdong Sun
- China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center, Qingdao, Shandong, 266032, PR China
| | - Huaiping Zhu
- LAMPS, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York university, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
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3
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Ward C, Deardon R, Schmidt AM. Bayesian modeling of dynamic behavioral change during an epidemic. Infect Dis Model 2023; 8:947-963. [PMID: 37608881 PMCID: PMC10440573 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2023.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
For many infectious disease outbreaks, the at-risk population changes their behavior in response to the outbreak severity, causing the transmission dynamics to change in real-time. Behavioral change is often ignored in epidemic modeling efforts, making these models less useful than they could be. We address this by introducing a novel class of data-driven epidemic models which characterize and accurately estimate behavioral change. Our proposed model allows time-varying transmission to be captured by the level of "alarm" in the population, with alarm specified as a function of the past epidemic trajectory. We investigate the estimability of the population alarm across a wide range of scenarios, applying both parametric functions and non-parametric functions using splines and Gaussian processes. The model is set in the data-augmented Bayesian framework to allow estimation on partially observed epidemic data. The benefit and utility of the proposed approach is illustrated through applications to data from real epidemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Ward
- Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Rob Deardon
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Alexandra M. Schmidt
- Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Taube JC, Susswein Z, Bansal S. Spatiotemporal Trends in Self-Reported Mask-Wearing Behavior in the United States: Analysis of a Large Cross-sectional Survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2023; 9:e42128. [PMID: 36877548 PMCID: PMC10028521 DOI: 10.2196/42128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 03/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Face mask wearing has been identified as an effective strategy to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, yet mask mandates were never imposed nationally in the United States. This decision resulted in a patchwork of local policies and varying compliance, potentially generating heterogeneities in the local trajectories of COVID-19 in the United States. Although numerous studies have investigated the patterns and predictors of masking behavior nationally, most suffer from survey biases and none have been able to characterize mask wearing at fine spatial scales across the United States through different phases of the pandemic. OBJECTIVE Urgently needed is a debiased spatiotemporal characterization of mask-wearing behavior in the United States. This information is critical to further assess the effectiveness of masking, evaluate the drivers of transmission at different time points during the pandemic, and guide future public health decisions through, for example, forecasting disease surges. METHODS We analyzed spatiotemporal masking patterns in over 8 million behavioral survey responses from across the United States, starting in September 2020 through May 2021. We adjusted for sample size and representation using binomial regression models and survey raking, respectively, to produce county-level monthly estimates of masking behavior. We additionally debiased self-reported masking estimates using bias measures derived by comparing vaccination data from the same survey to official records at the county level. Lastly, we evaluated whether individuals' perceptions of their social environment can serve as a less biased form of behavioral surveillance than self-reported data. RESULTS We found that county-level masking behavior was spatially heterogeneous along an urban-rural gradient, with mask wearing peaking in winter 2021 and declining sharply through May 2021. Our results identified regions where targeted public health efforts could have been most effective and suggest that individuals' frequency of mask wearing may be influenced by national guidance and disease prevalence. We validated our bias correction approach by comparing debiased self-reported mask-wearing estimates with community-reported estimates, after addressing issues of a small sample size and representation. Self-reported behavior estimates were especially prone to social desirability and nonresponse biases, and our findings demonstrated that these biases can be reduced if individuals are asked to report on community rather than self behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Our work highlights the importance of characterizing public health behaviors at fine spatiotemporal scales to capture heterogeneities that may drive outbreak trajectories. Our findings also emphasize the need for a standardized approach to incorporating behavioral big data into public health response efforts. Even large surveys are prone to bias; thus, we advocate for a social sensing approach to behavioral surveillance to enable more accurate estimates of health behaviors. Finally, we invite the public health and behavioral research communities to use our publicly available estimates to consider how bias-corrected behavioral estimates may improve our understanding of protective behaviors during crises and their impact on disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana C Taube
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Zachary Susswein
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Shweta Bansal
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States
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5
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Taube JC, Susswein Z, Bansal S. Spatiotemporal trends in self-reported mask-wearing behavior in the United States: Analysis of a large cross-sectional survey. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2022.07.19.22277821. [PMID: 36656779 PMCID: PMC9844018 DOI: 10.1101/2022.07.19.22277821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Background Face mask-wearing has been identified as an effective strategy to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2, yet mask mandates were never imposed nationally in the United States. This decision resulted in a patchwork of local policies and varying compliance potentially generating heterogeneities in the local trajectories of COVID-19 in the U.S. While numerous studies have investigated patterns and predictors of masking behavior nationally, most suffer from survey biases and none have been able to characterize mask-wearing at fine spatial scales across the U.S. through different phases of the pandemic. Objective Urgently needed is a debiased spatiotemporal characterization of mask-wearing behavior in the U.S. This information is critical to further assess the effectiveness of masking, evaluate drivers of transmission at different time points during the pandemic, and guide future public health decisions through, for example, forecasting disease surges. Methods We analyze spatiotemporal masking patterns in over eight million behavioral survey responses from across the United States starting in September 2020 through May 2021. We adjust for sample size and representation using binomial regression models and survey raking, respectively, to produce county-level monthly estimates of masking behavior. We additionally debias self-reported masking estimates using bias measures derived by comparing vaccination data from the same survey to official records at the county-level. Lastly, we evaluate whether individuals' perceptions of their social environment can serve as a less biased form of behavioral surveillance than self-reported data. Results We find that county-level masking behavior is spatially heterogeneous along an urban-rural gradient, with mask-wearing peaking in winter 2021 and declining sharply through May 2021. Our results identify regions where targeted public health efforts could have been most effective and suggest that individuals' frequency of mask-wearing may be influenced by national guidance and disease prevalence. We validate our bias-correction approach by comparing debiased self-reported mask-wearing estimates with community-reported estimates, after addressing issues of small sample size and representation. Self-reported behavior estimates are especially prone to social desirability and non-response biases and our findings demonstrate that these biases can be reduced if individuals are asked to report on community rather than self behaviors. Conclusions Our work highlights the importance of characterizing public health behaviors at fine spatiotemporal scales to capture heterogeneities that may drive outbreak trajectories. Our findings also emphasize the need for a standardized approach to incorporating behavioral big data into public health response efforts. Even large surveys are prone to bias; thus, we advocate for a social sensing approach to behavioral surveillance to enable more accurate estimates of health behaviors. Finally, we invite the public health and behavioral research communities to use our publicly available estimates to consider how bias-corrected behavioral estimates may improve our understanding of protective behaviors during crises and their impact on disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana C Taube
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, U.S.A
| | - Zachary Susswein
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, U.S.A
| | - Shweta Bansal
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, U.S.A
- Corresponding Author,
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Maged A, Ahmed A, Haridy S, Baker AW, Xie M. SEIR Model to address the impact of face masks amid COVID-19 pandemic. RISK ANALYSIS : AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SOCIETY FOR RISK ANALYSIS 2023; 43:129-143. [PMID: 35704273 PMCID: PMC9349537 DOI: 10.1111/risa.13958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Early in the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), face masks were used extensively by the general public in several Asian countries. The lower transmission rate of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Asian countries compared with Western countries suggested that the wider community use of face masks has the potential to decrease transmission of SARS-CoV-2. A risk assessment model named Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, Recovered (SEIR) model is used to quantitatively evaluate the potential impact of community face masks on SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number (R0 ) and peak number of infectious persons. For a simulated population of one million, the model showed a reduction in R0 of 49% and 50% when 60% and 80% of the population wore masks, respectively. Moreover, we present a modified model that considers the effect of mask-wearing after community vaccination. Interestingly mask-wearing still provided a considerable benefit in lowering the number of infectious individuals. The results of this research are expected to help public health officials in making prompt decisions involving resource allocation and crafting legislation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Maged
- Department of Advanced Design and Systems EngineeringCity University of Hong KongHong Kong
- Department of Mechanical EngineeringBenha UniversityBanhaEgypt
| | - Abdullah Ahmed
- Department of Mechanical EngineeringBenha UniversityBanhaEgypt
- Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering ScienceOsaka UniversitySuitaJapan
| | - Salah Haridy
- Department of Mechanical EngineeringBenha UniversityBanhaEgypt
- Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering ManagementUniversity of SharjahSharjahUnited Arab Emirates
| | - Arthur W. Baker
- Duke University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious DiseasesDurhamNorth CarolinaUSA
- Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection PreventionDurhamNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Min Xie
- Department of Advanced Design and Systems EngineeringCity University of Hong KongHong Kong
- Center for Intelligent Multidimensional Data Analysis, Hong Kong Science ParkShatinHong Kong
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Azizi A, Kazanci C, Komarova NL, Wodarz D. Effect of Human Behavior on the Evolution of Viral Strains During an Epidemic. Bull Math Biol 2022; 84:144. [PMID: 36334172 PMCID: PMC9638455 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-022-01102-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
It is well known in the literature that human behavior can change as a reaction to disease observed in others, and that such behavioral changes can be an important factor in the spread of an epidemic. It has been noted that human behavioral traits in disease avoidance are under selection in the presence of infectious diseases. Here, we explore a complementary trend: the pathogen itself might experience a force of selection to become less “visible,” or less “symptomatic,” in the presence of such human behavioral trends. Using a stochastic SIR agent-based model, we investigated the co-evolution of two viral strains with cross-immunity, where the resident strain is symptomatic while the mutant strain is asymptomatic. We assumed that individuals exercised self-regulated social distancing (SD) behavior if one of their neighbors was infected with a symptomatic strain. We observed that the proportion of asymptomatic carriers increased over time with a stronger effect corresponding to higher levels of self-regulated SD. Adding mandated SD made the effect more significant, while the existence of a time-delay between the onset of infection and the change of behavior reduced the advantage of the asymptomatic strain. These results were consistent under random geometric networks, scale-free networks, and a synthetic network that represented the social behavior of the residents of New Orleans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Azizi
- Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, GA, 30060, USA.
| | - Caner Kazanci
- Department of Mathematics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Natalia L Komarova
- Department of Mathematics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Dominik Wodarz
- Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention Program in Public Health, Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
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8
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Social distancing as a public-good dilemma for socio-economic cost: an evolutionary game approach. Heliyon 2022; 8:e11497. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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9
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Effects of human mobility and behavior on disease transmission in a COVID-19 mathematical model. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10840. [PMID: 35760930 PMCID: PMC9237048 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14155-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human interactions and perceptions about health risk are essential to understand the evolution over the course of a pandemic. We present a Susceptible-Exposed-Asymptomatic-Infectious-Recovered-Susceptible mathematical model with quarantine and social-distance-dependent transmission rates, to study COVID-19 dynamics. Human activities are split across different location settings: home, work, school, and elsewhere. Individuals move from home to the other locations at rates dependent on their epidemiological conditions and maintain a social distancing behavior, which varies with their location. We perform simulations and analyze how distinct social behaviors and restrictive measures affect the dynamic of the disease within a population. The model proposed in this study revealed that the main focus on the transmission of COVID-19 is attributed to the “home” location setting, which is understood as family gatherings including relatives and close friends. Limiting encounters at work, school and other locations will only be effective if COVID-19 restrictions occur simultaneously at all those locations and/or contact tracing or social distancing measures are effectively and strictly implemented, especially at the home setting.
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10
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Modelling the Role of Human Behaviour in Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) Transmission Dynamics. COMPUTATIONAL AND MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN MEDICINE 2022; 2022:4150043. [PMID: 35602345 PMCID: PMC9122724 DOI: 10.1155/2022/4150043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The role of human behaviour in the dynamics of infectious diseases cannot be underestimated. A clear understanding of how human behaviour influences the spread of infectious diseases is critical in establishing and designing control measures. To study the role that human behaviour plays in Ebola disease dynamics, in this paper, we design an Ebola virus disease model with disease transmission dynamics based on a new exponential nonlinear incidence function. This new incidence function that captures the reduction in disease transmission due to human behaviour innovatively considers the efficacy and the speed of behaviour change. The model's steady states are determined and suitable Lyapunov functions are built. The proofs of the global stability of equilibrium points are presented. To demonstrate the utility of the model, we fit the model to Ebola virus disease data from Liberia and Sierra Leone. The results which are comparable to existing findings from the outbreak of 2014 − 2016 show a better fit when the efficacy and the speed of behaviour change are higher. A rapid and efficacious behaviour change as a control measure to rapidly control an Ebola virus disease epidemic is advocated. Consequently, this model has implications for the management and control of future Ebola virus disease outbreaks.
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11
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Incorporating global dynamics to improve the accuracy of disease models: Example of a COVID-19 SIR model. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265815. [PMID: 35395018 PMCID: PMC8993010 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Mathematical models of infectious diseases exhibit robust dynamics, such as stable endemic, disease-free equilibriums or convergence of the solutions to periodic epidemic waves. The present work shows that the accuracy of such dynamics can be significantly improved by including global effects of host movements in disease models. To demonstrate improved accuracy, we extended a standard Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model by incorporating the global dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended SIR model assumes three possibilities for susceptible individuals traveling outside of their community: • They can return to the community without any exposure to the infection. • They can be exposed and develop symptoms after returning to the community. • They can be tested positively during the trip and remain quarantined until fully recovered. To examine the predictive accuracy of the extended SIR model, we studied the prevalence of the COVID-19 infection in six randomly selected cities and states in the United States: Kansas City, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Missouri, Illinois, and Arizona. The extended SIR model was parameterized using a two-step model-fitting algorithm. The extended SIR model significantly outperformed the standard SIR model and revealed oscillatory behaviors with an increasing trend of infected individuals. In conclusion, the analytics and predictive accuracy of disease models can be significantly improved by incorporating the global dynamics of the infection.
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12
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Zhang X, Xu Y. Business Cycle and Public Health: The Moderating Role of Health Education and Digital Economy. Front Public Health 2022; 9:793404. [PMID: 35087786 PMCID: PMC8787688 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.793404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The cyclicality of public health in the emerging market is underexplored in existing literature. In this study, we used a fixed effect model and provincial data to document how public health varies with the business cycle in China over the period of 2010-2019. The estimated results showed that the business cycle is negatively correlated with the mortality of infectious disease, a proxy variable of public health, thus indicating that public health exhibits a countercyclical pattern in China. Furthermore, we investigated the potential moderating role of public health education and digital economy development in the relationship between business cycle and public health. Our findings suggested that public health education and digital economy development can mitigate the damage of economic conditions on public health in China. Health education helps the public obtain more professional knowledge about diseases and then induces effective preventions. Compared with traditional economic growth, digital economy development can avoid environmental pollution which affects public health. Also, it ensures that state-of-the-art medical services are available for the public through e-health. In addition, digitalization assures that remote working is practicable and reduces close contact during epidemics such as COVID-19. The conclusions stand when subjected to several endogeneity and robustness checks. Therefore, the paper implies that these improvements in public health education and digitalization can help the government in promoting public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Zhang
- School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Yingying Xu
- School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
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13
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Martcheva M, Tuncer N, Ngonghala CN. Effects of social-distancing on infectious disease dynamics: an evolutionary game theory and economic perspective. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2021; 15:342-366. [PMID: 34182892 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2021.1946177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
We propose two models inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic: a coupled disease-human behaviour (or disease-game theoretic), and a coupled disease-human behaviour-economic model, both of which account for the impact of social-distancing on disease control and economic growth. The models exhibit rich dynamical behaviour including multistable equilibria, a backward bifurcation, and sustained bounded periodic oscillations. Analyses of the first model suggests that the disease can be eliminated if everybody practices full social-distancing, but the most likely outcome is some level of disease coupled with some level of social-distancing. The same outcome is observed with the second model when the economy is weaker than the social norms to follow health directives. However, if the economy is stronger, it can support some level of social-distancing that can lead to disease elimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maia Martcheva
- Department of Mathematics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Necibe Tuncer
- Department of Mathematics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA
| | - Calistus N Ngonghala
- Department of Mathematics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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14
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Epstein JM, Hatna E, Crodelle J. Triple contagion: a two-fears epidemic model. J R Soc Interface 2021; 18:20210186. [PMID: 34343457 PMCID: PMC8331242 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a differential equations model in which contagious disease transmission is affected by contagious fear of the disease and contagious fear of the control, in this case vaccine. The three contagions are coupled. The two fears evolve and interact in ways that shape distancing behaviour, vaccine uptake, and their relaxation. These behavioural dynamics in turn can amplify or suppress disease transmission, which feeds back to affect behaviour. The model reveals several coupled contagion mechanisms for multiple epidemic waves. Methodologically, the paper advances infectious disease modelling by including human behavioural adaptation, drawing on the neuroscience of fear learning, extinction and transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M. Epstein
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erez Hatna
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA
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15
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Castro BM, de Abreu de Melo Y, Fernanda Dos Santos N, Luiz da Costa Barcellos A, Choren R, Salles RM. Multi-agent simulation model for the evaluation of COVID-19 transmission. Comput Biol Med 2021; 136:104645. [PMID: 34325230 PMCID: PMC8275845 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
This work proposes an agent-based model to analyze the spread processes of the COVID-19 epidemics in open regions and based on hypothetical social scenarios of viral transmissibility. Differently from other previous models, we consider the environment to be a multi-region space in which the epidemic spreads according to the dynamics and the concentration of agents in such regions. This paper suggests that software agents can provide a more suitable model for individuals, and their features, thus showing the influence of civil society in the context of pandemic management. This is achieved by modeling an individual as an agent with a wide range of features (health condition, purchasing power, awareness, mobility, professional activity, age, and gender). The model supports the design of populations and interactions akin to real-life scenarios. Simulation results show that the proposed model can be applied in several ways to support decision-makers to better understand the epidemic spread and the actions that can be taken against the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenno Moura Castro
- Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Pc General Tibúrcio 80, 22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Yuri de Abreu de Melo
- Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Pc General Tibúrcio 80, 22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | | | | | - Ricardo Choren
- Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Pc General Tibúrcio 80, 22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Ronaldo Moreira Salles
- Military Institute of Engineering (IME), Pc General Tibúrcio 80, 22290-270, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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16
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Cabrera M, Córdova-Lepe F, Gutiérrez-Jara JP, Vogt-Geisse K. An SIR-type epidemiological model that integrates social distancing as a dynamic law based on point prevalence and socio-behavioral factors. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10170. [PMID: 33986347 PMCID: PMC8119989 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89492-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Modeling human behavior within mathematical models of infectious diseases is a key component to understand and control disease spread. We present a mathematical compartmental model of Susceptible-Infectious-Removed to compare the infected curves given by four different functional forms describing the transmission rate. These depend on the distance that individuals keep on average to others in their daily lives. We assume that this distance varies according to the balance between two opposite thrives: the self-protecting reaction of individuals upon the presence of disease to increase social distancing and their necessity to return to a culturally dependent natural social distance that occurs in the absence of disease. We present simulations to compare results for different society types on point prevalence, the peak size of a first epidemic outbreak and the time of occurrence of that peak, for four different transmission rate functional forms and parameters of interest related to distancing behavior, such as: the reaction velocity of a society to change social distance during an epidemic. We observe the vulnerability to disease spread of close contact societies, and also show that certain social distancing behavior may provoke a small peak of a first epidemic outbreak, but at the expense of it occurring early after the epidemic onset, observing differences in this regard between society types. We also discuss the appearance of temporal oscillations of the four different transmission rates, their differences, and how this oscillatory behavior is impacted through social distancing; breaking the unimodality of the actives-curve produced by the classical SIR-model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maritza Cabrera
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule (CIEAM), 3480112, Talca, Chile
- Vicerrectoria de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, 3480112, Talca, Chile
| | | | - Juan Pablo Gutiérrez-Jara
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule (CIEAM), 3480112, Talca, Chile.
- Vicerrectoria de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, 3480112, Talca, Chile.
| | - Katia Vogt-Geisse
- Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, 7941169, Santiago, Chile.
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17
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Gros C, Valenti R, Schneider L, Gutsche B, Marković D. Predicting the cumulative medical load of COVID-19 outbreaks after the peak in daily fatalities. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247272. [PMID: 33793551 PMCID: PMC8016333 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The distinct ways the COVID-19 pandemic has been unfolding in different countries and regions suggest that local societal and governmental structures play an important role not only for the baseline infection rate, but also for short and long-term reactions to the outbreak. We propose to investigate the question of how societies as a whole, and governments in particular, modulate the dynamics of a novel epidemic using a generalization of the SIR model, the reactive SIR (short-term and long-term reaction) model. We posit that containment measures are equivalent to a feedback between the status of the outbreak and the reproduction factor. Short-term reaction to an outbreak corresponds in this framework to the reaction of governments and individuals to daily cases and fatalities. The reaction to the cumulative number of cases or deaths, and not to daily numbers, is captured in contrast by long-term reaction. We present the exact phase space solution of the controlled SIR model and use it to quantify containment policies for a large number of countries in terms of short and long-term control parameters. We find increased contributions of long-term control for countries and regions in which the outbreak was suppressed substantially together with a strong correlation between the strength of societal and governmental policies and the time needed to contain COVID-19 outbreaks. Furthermore, for numerous countries and regions we identified a predictive relation between the number of fatalities within a fixed period before and after the peak of daily fatality counts, which allows to gauge the cumulative medical load of COVID-19 outbreaks that should be expected after the peak. These results suggest that the proposed model is applicable not only for understanding the outbreak dynamics, but also for predicting future cases and fatalities once the effectiveness of outbreak suppression policies is established with sufficient certainty. Finally, we provide a web app (https://itp.uni-frankfurt.de/covid-19/) with tools for visualising the phase space representation of real-world COVID-19 data and for exporting the preprocessed data for further analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudius Gros
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
| | - Roser Valenti
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
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18
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Gros C, Valenti R, Schneider L, Valenti K, Gros D. Containment efficiency and control strategies for the corona pandemic costs. Sci Rep 2021; 11:6848. [PMID: 33767222 PMCID: PMC7994626 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86072-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) confronts policy makers with the problem of measuring the effectiveness of containment strategies, balancing public health considerations with the economic costs of social distancing measures. We introduce a modified epidemic model that we name the controlled-SIR model, in which the disease reproduction rate evolves dynamically in response to political and societal reactions. An analytic solution is presented. The model reproduces official COVID-19 cases counts of a large number of regions and countries that surpassed the first peak of the outbreak. A single unbiased feedback parameter is extracted from field data and used to formulate an index that measures the efficiency of containment strategies (the CEI index). CEI values for a range of countries are given. For two variants of the controlled-SIR model, detailed estimates of the total medical and socio-economic costs are evaluated over the entire course of the epidemic. Costs comprise medical care cost, the economic cost of social distancing, as well as the economic value of lives saved. Under plausible parameters, strict measures fare better than a hands-off policy. Strategies based on current case numbers lead to substantially higher total costs than strategies based on the overall history of the epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudius Gros
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Goethe University, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Roser Valenti
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Goethe University, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Lukas Schneider
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Goethe University, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Daniel Gros
- Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, USA
- CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies), 1000, Brussels, Belgium
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19
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Costantino V, Kunasekaran M, MacIntyre CR. Modelling of optimal vaccination strategies in response to a bioterrorism associated smallpox outbreak. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021; 17:738-746. [PMID: 33734944 PMCID: PMC7993194 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1800324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The reemergence of smallpox as a bioterrorism attack is now an increasing and legitimate concern. Advances in synthetic biology have now made it possible for the virus to be synthesized in a laboratory, with methods publicly available. Smallpox introduction into a susceptible population, with increased immunosuppression and an aging population, raises questions of how vaccination should be used in an epidemic situation when supply may be limited. We constructed three modified susceptible-latent-infectious-recovered (SEIR) models to simulate targeted, ring and mass vaccination in response to a smallpox outbreak in Sydney, Australia. We used age-specific distributions of susceptibility, infectivity, contact rates, and tested outputs under different assumptions. The number of doses needed of second- and third-generation vaccines are estimated, along with the total number of deaths at the end of the epidemic. We found a faster response is the key and ring vaccination of traced contacts is the most effective strategy and requires a smaller number of doses. However if public health authorities are unable to trace a high proportion of contacts, mass vaccination with at least 125,000 doses delivered per day is required. This study informs a better preparedness and response planning for vaccination in a case of a smallpox outbreak in a setting such as Sydney.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Costantino
- Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Mohana Kunasekaran
- Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chandini Raina MacIntyre
- Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.,College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA
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20
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Lymperopoulos IN. #stayhome to contain Covid-19: Neuro-SIR - Neurodynamical epidemic modeling of infection patterns in social networks. EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS 2021; 165:113970. [PMID: 32908331 PMCID: PMC7470771 DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2020.113970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
An innovative neurodynamical model of epidemics in social networks - the Neuro-SIR - is introduced. Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) epidemic processes are mechanistically modeled as analogous to the activity propagation in neuronal populations. The workings of infection transmission from individual to individual through a network of social contacts, is driven by the dynamics of the threshold mechanism of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons. Through this approach a dynamically evolving landscape of the susceptibility of a population to a disease is formed. In this context, epidemics with varying velocities and scales are triggered by a small fraction of infected individuals according to the configuration of various endogenous and exogenous factors representing the individuals' vulnerability, the infectiousness of a pathogen, the density of a contact network, and environmental conditions. Adjustments in the length of immunity (if any) after recovery, enable the modeling of the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Susceptible (SIRS) process of recurrent epidemics. Neuro-SIR by supporting an impressive level of heterogeneities in the description of a population, contagiousness of a disease, and external factors, allows a more insightful investigation of epidemic spreading in comparison with existing approaches. Through simulation experiments with Neuro-SIR, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the #stayhome strategy for containing Covid-19, and successfully validate the simulation results against the classical epidemiological theory. Neuro-SIR is applicable in designing and assessing prevention and control strategies for spreading diseases, as well as in predicting the evolution pattern of epidemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilias N Lymperopoulos
- Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, 47a Evelpidon Str., Athens, 11362, Greece
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21
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Covid-19 impact on the Caribbean academic library: Jamaica's preliminary response to people, place, product and services. LIBRARY MANAGEMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1108/lm-10-2020-0144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
PurposeThis paper examined the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on people, place, product and services in Jamaican academic libraries. It also compares the Jamaican academic library’s COVID-19 experience with US academic library’s COVID-19 preliminary experience.Design/methodology/approachThe local academic libraries in higher education in Jamaica (also referred to in this paper as university libraries) were surveyed.FindingsGovernment mandates, university mandates and the absence of a vaccine influenced academic library response. The measures implemented, though unplanned and developed on-the-go, constituted a behavioural change model (BCM). COVID-19 has had a positive-negative impact on library people, place, product and services and has created a new normal for Jamaican academic libraries.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper captures the preliminary response of Jamaican academic libraries to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on library people, place, product and services. As such, a follow-up survey on changes, challenges, strengths, impact, lessons and plans would be a useful complement to this paper. As COVID-19 information is rapidly evolving, this preliminary response of Jamaica is neither the final nor complete response to the pandemic.Practical implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a gap in the literature on disaster management generally and pandemic management in particular, and on the management of health disasters in academic libraries; this paper seeks to fill this gap, albeit incrementally, through Jamaica's preliminary response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThis paper gives voice to the Caribbean academic library’s COVID-19 experience, through the voice of Jamaica. It is the first scholarly paper on the impact of COVID-19 on university libraries in the Jamaican / English-speaking Caribbean, and so presents the elements of the BCM implemented by Jamaica, which provides an important guide to Caribbean academic library leaders. The findings can also inform the Latin American and Caribbean section of international library papers on COVID-19 impact on academic libraries globally.
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22
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Tang H, Li M, Yan X, Lu Z, Jia Z. Modeling the Dynamics of Drug Spreading in China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:E288. [PMID: 33401693 PMCID: PMC7796082 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18010288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Drug abuse remains one of the major public health issues at the global level. In this article, we propose a drug epidemic model with a complete addiction-rehabilitation-recovery process, which allows the initiation of new users under the influence of drug addicts undergoing treatment and hidden drug addicts. We first conduct qualitative analyses of the dynamical behaviors of the model, including the existence and positivity of the solutions, the basic reproduction number, global asymptotic stabilities of both the drug-free and the drug-persistent equilibria, as well as sensitivity analysis. Then we use the model to predict the drug epidemic in China during 2020-2030. Finally, we numerically simulate the potential impact of intervention strategies on different drug users. The results show that the drug epidemic will decrease significantly during 2020-2030, and the most effective intervention strategy to eliminate drug epidemics is to strengthen the investigation and rehabilitation admission of hidden drug users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haoxiang Tang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
| | - Mingtao Li
- School of Mathematics, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
| | - Xiangyu Yan
- School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China;
| | - Zuhong Lu
- State Key Lab of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China;
| | - Zhongwei Jia
- School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China;
- Center for Intelligent Public Health, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
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23
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Pandita S, Mishra HG, Chib S. Psychological impact of covid-19 crises on students through the lens of Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model. CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW 2021; 120:105783. [PMID: 33518862 PMCID: PMC7834393 DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The present outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected 28,584,158 people world-wide as of 13th September 2020 (WHO, 2020b). This crisis has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear. Due to the unavailability of the evidence based medical treatment, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are the best options at the present moment. Lockdown was one of such measures to control the spread of the Covid-19 disease. Due to lockdown measures, many countries across the globe followed the complete closure of shopping malls, transport networks, schools, universities, etc. This study aims to investigate the behavioural psychological changes among university students due to covid-19 crises and lockdown. Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model has been adopted to develop a theoretical foundation for the research. Qualitative research methodology including a combination of personal interviews and focus groups has been adopted in the study to develop the themes with the help of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, Atlas.ti 7. It has been found that students are suffering from academic anxiety, fear, Mysophobia, etc. As far as behavioural responses are concerned following behavioural changes have been found; Panic buying, e-learning, community support, support for prime-minister, etc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shailesh Pandita
- School of Business, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K, India
| | - Hari Govind Mishra
- School of Business, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K, India
| | - Shagun Chib
- Academic Associate, Indian Institute of Management, Indore, India
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24
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Investigating the Relationship between the Built Environment and Relative Risk of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. ISPRS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-INFORMATION 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/ijgi9110624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the relationship between the built environment and the risk of COVID-19 transmission is essential to respond to the pandemic. This study explores the relationship between the built environment and COVID-19 risk using the confirmed cases data collected in Hong Kong. Using the information on the residential buildings and places visited for each case from the dataset, we assess the risk of COVID-19 and explore their geographic patterns at the level of Tertiary Planning Unit (TPU) based on incidence rate (R1) and venue density (R2). We then investigate the associations between several built-environment variables (e.g., nodal accessibility and green space density) and COVID-19 risk using global Poisson regression (GPR) and geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) models. The results indicate that COVID-19 risk tends to be concentrated in particular areas of Hong Kong. Using the incidence rate as an indicator to assess COVID-19 risk may underestimate the risk of COVID-19 transmission in some suburban areas. The GPR and GWPR models suggest a close and spatially heterogeneous relationship between the selected built-environment variables and the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The study provides useful insights that support policymakers in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics.
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25
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Abstract
This position paper discusses emerging behavioral, social, and economic dynamics related to the COVID-19 pandemic and puts particular emphasis on two emerging issues: First, delayed effects (or second strikes) of pandemics caused by dread risk effects are discussed whereby two factors which might influence the existence of such effects are identified, namely the accessibility of (mis-)information and the effects of policy decisions on adaptive behavior. Second, the issue of individual preparedness to hazardous events is discussed. As events such as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds complex behavioral patterns which are hard to predict, sophisticated models which account for behavioral, social, and economic dynamics are required to assess the effectivity and efficiency of decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Leitner
- Department of Management Control and Strategic Management, University of Klagenfurt, Universitätsstraße 65-7, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria
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26
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Brabin B. An Analysis of the United States and United Kingdom Smallpox Epidemics (1901-5) - The Special Relationship that Tested Public Health Strategies for Disease Control. MEDICAL HISTORY 2020; 64:1-31. [PMID: 31933500 PMCID: PMC6945217 DOI: 10.1017/mdh.2019.74] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
At the end of the nineteenth century, the northern port of Liverpool had become the second largest in the United Kingdom. Fast transatlantic steamers to Boston and other American ports exploited this route, increasing the risk of maritime disease epidemics. The 1901-3 epidemic in Liverpool was the last serious smallpox outbreak in Liverpool and was probably seeded from these maritime contacts, which introduced a milder form of the disease that was more difficult to trace because of its long incubation period and occurrence of undiagnosed cases. The characteristics of these epidemics in Boston and Liverpool are described and compared with outbreaks in New York, Glasgow and London between 1900 and 1903. Public health control strategies, notably medical inspection, quarantine and vaccination, differed between the two countries and in both settings were inconsistently applied, often for commercial reasons or due to public unpopularity. As a result, smaller smallpox epidemics spread out from Liverpool until 1905. This paper analyses factors that contributed to this last serious epidemic using the historical epidemiological data available at that time. Though imperfect, these early public health strategies paved the way for better prevention of imported maritime diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Brabin
- Clinical Division, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
- Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, UK
- Global Child Health Group, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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27
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Effects of asymptomatic infection on the dynamical interplay between behavior and disease transmission in multiplex networks. PHYSICA A 2019; 536:121030. [PMID: 32288109 PMCID: PMC7125818 DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2019.04.266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Multiplex network theory is widely introduced to deepen the understanding of the dynamical interplay between self-protective behavior and epidemic spreading. Most of the existing studies assumed that all infected individuals can transmit disease- related information or can be perceived by their neighbors. However, owing to lack of distinct symptoms for patients in the initial stage of infection, the disease information cannot be transmitted in the population, which may lead to the wrong perception of infection risk and inappropriate behavior response. In this work, we divide infected individuals into Exposed-state (without obvious clinical symptoms) individuals and Infected-state (with evident clinical symptoms) individuals, both of whom can spread disease, but only Infected-state individuals can diffuse disease information. Then, in this work we establish UAU-SEIS (Unaware–Aware–Unaware–Susceptible–Exposed–Infected–Susceptible) model in multiplex networks and analyze the effect of asymptomatic infection and the isolation of Infected-state individuals on the density of infection and the epidemic threshold. Furthermore, we extend the UAU-SEIS model by taking the individual heterogeneity into consideration. Combined Markov chain approach and Monte-Carlo Simulations, we find that asymptomatic infection has an effect on the density of infected individuals and the epidemic threshold, and the extent of the effect is influenced by whether Infected-state individuals are isolated or treated. In addition, results show that the individual heterogeneity can lower the density of infected individuals, but cannot enhance the epidemic threshold. We study the impact of asymptomatic infection on the epidemic spread dynamics in multiplex networks. We assume infected can be isolation and non isolation, then compare the research results of these two cases. We take the individual heterogeneity into consideration and study whether it affect research results.
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28
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Azizi A, Montalvo C, Espinoza B, Kang Y, Castillo-Chavez C. Epidemics on networks: Reducing disease transmission using health emergency declarations and peer communication. Infect Dis Model 2019; 5:12-22. [PMID: 31891014 PMCID: PMC6933230 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2019.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding individual decisions in a world where communications and information move instantly via cell phones and the internet, contributes to the development and implementation of policies aimed at stopping or ameliorating the spread of diseases. In this manuscript, the role of official social network perturbations generated by public health officials to slow down or stop a disease outbreak are studied over distinct classes of static social networks. The dynamics are stochastic in nature with individuals (nodes) being assigned fixed levels of education or wealth. Nodes may change their epidemiological status from susceptible, to infected and to recovered. Most importantly, it is assumed that when the prevalence reaches a pre-determined threshold level,P * , information, called awareness in our framework, starts to spread, a process triggered by public health authorities. Information is assumed to spread over the same static network and whether or not one becomes a temporary informer, is a function of his/her level of education or wealth and epidemiological status. Stochastic simulations show that threshold selectionP * and the value of the average basic reproduction number impact the final epidemic size differentially. For the Erdős-Rényi and Small-world networks, an optimal choice forP * that minimize the final epidemic size can be identified under some conditions while for Scale-free networks this is not case.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Azizi
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
| | - Cesar Montalvo
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
| | - Baltazar Espinoza
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
| | - Yun Kang
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Sciences and Mathematics Faculty, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA
| | - Carlos Castillo-Chavez
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02906, USA
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29
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Berdahl A, Brelsford C, Bacco CD, Dumas M, Ferdinand V, Grochow JA, Hébert-Dufresne L, Kallus Y, Kempes CP, Kolchinsky A, Larremore DB, Libby E, Power EA, Stern CA, Tracey BD. Dynamics of beneficial epidemics. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15093. [PMID: 31641147 PMCID: PMC6805938 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50039-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Pathogens can spread epidemically through populations. Beneficial contagions, such as viruses that enhance host survival or technological innovations that improve quality of life, also have the potential to spread epidemically. How do the dynamics of beneficial biological and social epidemics differ from those of detrimental epidemics? We investigate this question using a breadth-first modeling approach involving three distinct theoretical models. First, in the context of population genetics, we show that a horizontally-transmissible element that increases fitness, such as viral DNA, spreads superexponentially through a population, more quickly than a beneficial mutation. Second, in the context of behavioral epidemiology, we show that infections that cause increased connectivity lead to superexponential fixation in the population. Third, in the context of dynamic social networks, we find that preferences for increased global infection accelerate spread and produce superexponential fixation, but preferences for local assortativity halt epidemics by disconnecting the infected from the susceptible. We conclude that the dynamics of beneficial biological and social epidemics are characterized by the rapid spread of beneficial elements, which is facilitated in biological systems by horizontal transmission and in social systems by active spreading behavior of infected individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Berdahl
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
| | - Christa Brelsford
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Caterina De Bacco
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marion Dumas
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom
| | - Vanessa Ferdinand
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Joshua A Grochow
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
| | - Laurent Hébert-Dufresne
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 05401, USA
| | - Yoav Kallus
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
| | | | - Artemy Kolchinsky
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Daniel B Larremore
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Department of Computer Science and BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
| | - Eric Libby
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, Umeå University, Umeå, 901 87, Sweden
| | - Eleanor A Power
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Brendan D Tracey
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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30
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Costantino V, Kunasekaran MP, Chughtai AA, MacIntyre CR. How Valid Are Assumptions About Re-emerging Smallpox? A Systematic Review of Parameters Used in Smallpox Mathematical Models. Mil Med 2019; 183:e200-e207. [PMID: 29425329 DOI: 10.1093/milmed/usx092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Globally eradicated in 1980, smallpox is listed as a category A bioterrorism agent. If smallpox were to re-emerge, it may be due to an act of bioterrorism or a laboratory accident, and the impact is likely to be severe. Preparedness against smallpox is subject to more uncertainty than other infectious diseases because it is eradicated, there is uncertainty about population immunity, and the current global health workforce has no practical experience or living memory of smallpox. In the event of re-emergence of smallpox, mathematical modeling plays a crucial role in improving the evidence base to inform preparedness, mitigation, and response activities. However, the predictions of mathematical models about outbreak magnitude and impact depend critically on the assumptions and disease parameters used. We aimed to identify modeling studies that would be applicable to re-emerging smallpox and to evaluate consistency and the certainty of the evidence published about the key parameters used. Methods We conducted a systematic review using PRISMA criteria, of assumptions used in modeling studies on duration of latent, prodromal, and infectious period, as well as the choice of the basic reproduction number (R0) for re-emerging smallpox. We performed a literature search using PubMED, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE and included peer-reviewed articles that focused on smallpox models, stated at least three of the aforementioned parameters and published in English. Findings A total of 42 studies were selected for inclusion. There was general agreement on the duration of latent and prodromal periods, being 11-12 d (88%) and 3 d (59%), respectively. The duration of the infectious period varied from 4 to 20 d. Most models assumed 16 d (19%), 12 d (16.7%), and 8.6 d (12%) of infectiousness. In 25/34 studies, R0 ranged between 3 and 5, generally lower than the R0 calculated from past outbreaks. Discussion Models of smallpox re-emergence also tend to use the same limited available historical data sources but assume a wide range of different estimates for key parameters. Models use very optimistic assumptions of decreased population immunity, despite high uncertainty about duration and magnitude of post-vaccination immunity. This review reveals a paradox. A substantial proportion of the modern population is unvaccinated, never exposed to boosting from wild-type smallpox, or immunocompromised; furthermore, vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time. Failure to consider these factors in a model will lead to underestimating the true impact of a re-emergent smallpox epidemic in the contemporary population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Costantino
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mohana P Kunasekaran
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Abrar A Chughtai
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Chandini R MacIntyre
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, 411 Central Avenue #750, Phoenix, AZ
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31
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Davenport RJ, Satchell M, Shaw-Taylor LMW. The geography of smallpox in England before vaccination: A conundrum resolved. Soc Sci Med 2018; 206:75-85. [PMID: 29684651 PMCID: PMC5958952 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Revised: 02/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Smallpox is regarded as an ancient and lethal disease of humans, however very little is known about the prevalence and impact of smallpox before the advent of vaccination (c.1800). Here we use evidence from English burial records covering the period 1650-1799 to confirm a striking geography to smallpox patterns. Smallpox apparently circulated as a childhood disease in northern England and Sweden, even where population densities were low and settlement patterns dispersed. However, smallpox was a relatively rare epidemic disease in southern England outside the largest cities, despite its commercialised economy and the growing spatial interconnectedness of its settlements. We investigated a number of factors hypothesised to influence the regional circulation of smallpox, including exposure to naturally occurring orthopox viruses, settlement patterns, and deliberate preventative measures. We concluded that transmission was controlled in southern England by local practices of avoidance and mass inoculation that arose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Avoidance measures included isolation of victims in pest houses and private homes, as well as cancellation of markets and other public gatherings, and pre-dated the widespread use of inoculation. The historical pattern of smallpox in England supports phylogenetic evidence for a relatively recent origin of the variola strains that circulated in the twentieth century, and provides evidence for the efficacy of preventative strategies complementary to immunisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romola Jane Davenport
- Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, Department of Geography, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK.
| | - Max Satchell
- Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, Department of Geography, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK.
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32
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Tao Y, Shea K, Ferrari M. Logistical constraints lead to an intermediate optimum in outbreak response vaccination. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1006161. [PMID: 29791432 PMCID: PMC5988332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Revised: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dynamic models in disease ecology have historically evaluated vaccination strategies under the assumption that they are implemented homogeneously in space and time. However, this approach fails to formally account for operational and logistical constraints inherent in the distribution of vaccination to the population at risk. Thus, feedback between the dynamic processes of vaccine distribution and transmission might be overlooked. Here, we present a spatially explicit, stochastic Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Vaccinated model that highlights the density-dependence and spatial constraints of various diffusive strategies of vaccination during an outbreak. The model integrates an agent-based process of disease spread with a partial differential process of vaccination deployment. We characterize the vaccination response in terms of a diffusion rate that describes the distribution of vaccination to the population at risk from a central location. This generates an explicit trade-off between slow diffusion, which concentrates effort near the central location, and fast diffusion, which spreads a fixed vaccination effort thinly over a large area. We use stochastic simulation to identify the optimum vaccination diffusion rate as a function of population density, interaction scale, transmissibility, and vaccine intensity. Our results show that, conditional on a timely response, the optimal strategy for minimizing outbreak size is to distribute vaccination resource at an intermediate rate: fast enough to outpace the epidemic, but slow enough to achieve local herd immunity. If the response is delayed, however, the optimal strategy for minimizing outbreak size changes to a rapidly diffusive distribution of vaccination effort. The latter may also result in significantly larger outbreaks, thus suggesting a benefit of allocating resources to timely outbreak detection and response. It has long been recognized that an epidemic of infectious disease can be prevented if a sufficient proportion of the susceptible population is vaccinated in advance. This logic also holds for vaccine-based outbreak response to stop an outbreak of a novel, or re-emerging pathogen, but with an important caveat. If vaccination is used in response to an outbreak, then it will necessarily take time to achieve the required level of vaccination coverage, during which time the outbreak may continue to spread. Thus, one must consider the logistical and operational constraints of vaccine distribution to assess the ability of outbreak response vaccination to slow or stop an advancing epidemic. We develop a simple mathematical framework for representing vaccine distribution in response to an epidemic and solve for the optimal distribution strategy under realistic constraints of total vaccination effort. Focused deployment near the outbreak epicenter concentrates resources in the area most in need, but may allow the outbreak to spread outside of the response zone. Broad deployment over the whole population may spread vaccination resources too thin, creating shortages and delays at the local scale that fail to prevent the advancing epidemic. Thus we found that, in general, the best strategy is an intermediate optimum that deploys vaccine neither too slow to prevent escape from the outbreak epicenter, nor too fast to spread resources too thin. The specific optimum rate for any given outbreak depends on the infectiousness of the pathogen, the population density, the range of contacts amongst individuals, the timeliness of the response, and the vaccine intensity. This insight only emerges from linking an epidemic model with a realistic model of outbreak response and highlights the need for further work to merge operations research with epidemic models to develop operationally relevant response strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Tao
- Department of Biology and The Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Katriona Shea
- Department of Biology and The Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Matthew Ferrari
- Department of Biology and The Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
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33
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Misra AK, Rai RK, Takeuchi Y. Modeling the effect of time delay in budget allocation to control an epidemic through awareness. INT J BIOMATH 2018. [DOI: 10.1142/s1793524518500274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of any new infectious disease poses much stress on the government to control the spread of such disease. The easy, fast and less expensive way to slow down the spread of disease is to make the population be aware of its spread and possible control mechanisms. For this purpose, government allocates some funds to make public aware through mass media, print media, pamphlets, etc. Keeping this in view, in this paper, a nonlinear mathematical model is proposed and analyzed to assess the effect of time delay in providing funds by the government to warn people. It is assumed that susceptible individuals contract infection through the direct contact with infected individuals; however the rate of contracting infection is a decreasing function of funds availability. The proposed model is analyzed using stability theory of delay differential equations and numerical simulations. The model analysis shows that the increase in funds to warn people reduces the number of infected individuals but delay in providing the funds destabilizes the interior equilibrium and may cause stability switches.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. K. Misra
- Department of Mathematics, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Rajanish Kumar Rai
- Department of Mathematics, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Yasuhiro Takeuchi
- Department of Physics and Mathematics, College of Science and Engineering, Aoyama Gakuin University, Kanagawa 252-5258, Japan
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34
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Yan QL, Tang SY, Xiao YN. Impact of individual behaviour change on the spread of emerging infectious diseases. Stat Med 2017; 37:948-969. [PMID: 29193194 DOI: 10.1002/sim.7548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 09/06/2017] [Accepted: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Human behaviour plays an important role in the spread of emerging infectious diseases, and understanding the influence of behaviour changes on epidemics can be key to improving control efforts. However, how the dynamics of individual behaviour changes affects the development of emerging infectious disease is a key public health issue. To develop different formula for individual behaviour change and introduce how to embed it into a dynamic model of infectious diseases, we choose A/H1N1 and Ebola as typical examples, combined with the epidemic reported cases and media related news reports. Thus, the logistic model with the health belief model is used to determine behaviour decisions through the health belief model constructs. Furthermore, we propose 4 candidate infectious disease models without and with individual behaviour change and use approximate Bayesian computation based on sequential Monte Carlo method for model selection. The main results indicate that the classical compartment model without behaviour change and the model with average rate of behaviour change depicted by an exponential function could fit the observed data best. The results provide a new way on how to choose an infectious disease model to predict the disease prevalence trend or to evaluate the influence of intervention measures on disease control. However, sensitivity analyses indicate that the accumulated number of hospital notifications and deaths could be largely reduced as the rate of behaviour change increases. Therefore, in terms of mitigating emerging infectious diseases, both media publicity focused on how to guide people's behaviour change and positive responses of individuals are critical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Q L Yan
- School of Mathematics and Information Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
| | - S Y Tang
- School of Mathematics and Information Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China
| | - Y N Xiao
- Department of Applied Mathematics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
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35
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Abstract
Advances in biological sciences have outpaced regulatory and legal frameworks for biosecurity. Simultaneously, there has been a convergence of scientific disciplines such as synthetic biology, data science, advanced computing and many other technologies, which all have applications in health. For example, advances in cybercrime methods have created ransomware attacks on hospitals, which can cripple health systems and threaten human life. New kinds of biological weapons which fall outside of traditional Cold War era thinking can be created synthetically using genetic code. These convergent trajectories are dramatically expanding the repertoire of methods which can be used for benefit or harm. We describe a new risk landscape for which there are few precedents, and where regulation and mitigation are a challenge. Rapidly evolving patterns of technology convergence and proliferation of dual-use risks expose inadequate societal preparedness. We outline examples in the areas of biological weapons, antimicrobial resistance, laboratory security and cybersecurity in health care. New challenges in health security such as precision harm in medicine can no longer be addressed within the isolated vertical silo of health, but require cross-disciplinary solutions from other fields. Nor can they cannot be managed effectively by individual countries. We outline the case for new cross-disciplinary approaches in risk analysis to an altered risk landscape.
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36
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Levy B, Edholm C, Gaoue O, Kaondera-Shava R, Kgosimore M, Lenhart S, Lephodisa B, Lungu E, Marijani T, Nyabadza F. Modeling the role of public health education in Ebola virus disease outbreaks in Sudan. Infect Dis Model 2017; 2:323-340. [PMID: 29928745 PMCID: PMC6001965 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2017.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Revised: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Public involvement in Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) prevention efforts is key to reducing disease outbreaks. Targeted education through practical health information to particular groups and sub-populations is crucial to controlling the disease. In this paper, we study the dynamics of Ebola virus disease in the presence of public health education with the aim of assessing the role of behavior change induced by health education to the dynamics of an outbreak. The power of behavior change is evident in two outbreaks of EVD that took place in Sudan only 3 years apart. The first occurrence was the first documented outbreak of EVD and produced a significant number of infections. The second outbreak produced far fewer cases, presumably because the population in the region learned from the first outbreak. We derive a system of ordinary differential equations to model these two contrasting behaviors. Since the population in Sudan learned from the first outbreak of EVD and changed their behavior prior to the second outbreak, we use data from these two instances of EVD to estimate parameters relevant to two contrasting behaviors. We then simulate a future outbreak of EVD in Sudan using our model that contains two susceptible populations, one being more informed about EVD. Our finding show how a more educated population results in fewer cases of EVD and highlights the importance of ongoing public health education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Levy
- Department of Mathematics, Fitchburg State University, USA
| | | | - Orou Gaoue
- Department of Botany, University of Hawaii, USA
| | | | - Moatlhodi Kgosimore
- Department of Basic Sciences, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Botswana
| | | | | | - Edward Lungu
- Department of Mathematics, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Botswana
| | | | - Farai Nyabadza
- Department of Mathematics, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
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37
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Mathematical Analysis of an SIQR Influenza Model with Imperfect Quarantine. Bull Math Biol 2017; 79:1612-1636. [DOI: 10.1007/s11538-017-0301-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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38
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Yin Q, Shi T, Dong C, Yan Z. The impact of contact patterns on epidemic dynamics. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173411. [PMID: 28291800 PMCID: PMC5349474 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 02/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In social networks, individuals have relationships with their neighbor nodes (acquaintance contacts) and also randomly contact other nodes without direct links (stranger contacts). However, these two types of contact patterns are rarely considered together. In this paper, we propose a modified SIS (Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible) model in which a node not only contacts neighbor nodes but also randomly contacts other nodes in the network. We implement the model on a scale-free network and study the influence of different types of contact patterns on epidemic dynamics as well as three possible strategies people adopt when disease outbreaks. The results show that a greater preference for acquaintance contacts makes a disease outbreak less likely. Moreover, the best protective strategy to control the disease is to adjust both the contact number and the contact pattern. In addition, the epidemic is more likely to be controlled when individuals take more information into consideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuju Yin
- School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
- Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing, China
| | - Tianyu Shi
- School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Dong
- School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Zhijun Yan
- School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
- Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing, China
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39
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Azizi A, Ríos-Soto K, Mubayi A, M Hyman J. A Risk-based Model for Predicting the Impact of using Condoms on the Spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Infect Dis Model 2017; 2:100-112. [PMID: 28989988 PMCID: PMC5626461 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2017.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
We create and analyze a mathematical model to understand the impact of condom-use and sexual behavior on the prevalence and spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). STIs remain significant public health challenges globally with a high burden of some Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) in both developed and undeveloped countries. Although condom-use is known to reduce the transmission of STIs, there are a few quantitative population-based studies on the protective role of condom-use in reducing the incidence of STIs. The number of concurrent partners is correlated with their risk of being infectious by an STI such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis. We develop a Susceptible-Infectious-Susceptible (SIS) model that stratifies the population based on the number of concurrent partners. The model captures the multi-level heterogeneous mixing through a combination of biased (preferential) and random (proportional) mixing processes between individuals with distinct risk levels, and accounts for differences in condom-use in the low- and high-risk populations. We use sensitivity analysis to assess the relative impact of high-risk people using condom as a prophylactic intervention to reduce their chance of being infectious, or infecting others. The model predicts the STI prevalence as a function of the number of partners of an individual, and quantifies how this distribution of effective partners changes as a function of condom-use. Our results show that when the mixing is random, then increasing the condom-use in the high-risk population is more effective in reducing the prevalence than when many of the partners of high-risk people have high risk. The model quantifies how the risk of being infected increases for people who have more partners, and the need for high-risk people to consistently use condoms to reduce their risk of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Azizi
- Department of Mathematics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
| | - Karen Ríos-Soto
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez P.R, 00610
| | - Anuj Mubayi
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change; Simon A. Levin Mathematical Computational Modeling Science Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
| | - James M Hyman
- Department of Mathematics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
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40
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Castillo-Chavez C, Bichara D, Morin BR. Perspectives on the role of mobility, behavior, and time scales in the spread of diseases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:14582-14588. [PMID: 27965394 PMCID: PMC5187743 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1604994113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The dynamics, control, and evolution of communicable and vector-borne diseases are intimately connected to the joint dynamics of epidemiological, behavioral, and mobility processes that operate across multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The identification of a theoretical explanatory framework that accounts for the pattern regularity exhibited by a large number of host-parasite systems, including those sustained by host-vector epidemiological dynamics, is but one of the challenges facing the coevolving fields of computational, evolutionary, and theoretical epidemiology. Host-parasite epidemiological patterns, including epidemic outbreaks and endemic recurrent dynamics, are characteristic to well-identified regions of the world; the result of processes and constraints such as strain competition, host and vector mobility, and population structure operating over multiple scales in response to recurrent disturbances (like El Niño) and climatological and environmental perturbations over thousands of years. It is therefore important to identify and quantify the processes responsible for observed epidemiological macroscopic patterns: the result of individual interactions in changing social and ecological landscapes. In this perspective, we touch on some of the issues calling for the identification of an encompassing theoretical explanatory framework by identifying some of the limitations of existing theory, in the context of particular epidemiological systems. Fostering the reenergizing of research that aims at disentangling the role of epidemiological and socioeconomic forces on disease dynamics, better understood as complex adaptive systems, is a key aim of this perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Castillo-Chavez
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3901;
- Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia 111711
- Office of the Rector, Yachay Tech University, Urcuqui, Ecuador 100119
| | - Derdei Bichara
- Department of Mathematics, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92831
- Center for Computational and Applied Mathematics, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92831
| | - Benjamin R Morin
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3901
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
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41
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Moran KR, Fairchild G, Generous N, Hickmann K, Osthus D, Priedhorsky R, Hyman J, Del Valle SY. Epidemic Forecasting is Messier Than Weather Forecasting: The Role of Human Behavior and Internet Data Streams in Epidemic Forecast. J Infect Dis 2016; 214:S404-S408. [PMID: 28830111 PMCID: PMC5181546 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiw375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mathematical models, such as those that forecast the spread of epidemics or predict the weather, must overcome the challenges of integrating incomplete and inaccurate data in computer simulations, estimating the probability of multiple possible scenarios, incorporating changes in human behavior and/or the pathogen, and environmental factors. In the past 3 decades, the weather forecasting community has made significant advances in data collection, assimilating heterogeneous data steams into models and communicating the uncertainty of their predictions to the general public. Epidemic modelers are struggling with these same issues in forecasting the spread of emerging diseases, such as Zika virus infection and Ebola virus disease. While weather models rely on physical systems, data from satellites, and weather stations, epidemic models rely on human interactions, multiple data sources such as clinical surveillance and Internet data, and environmental or biological factors that can change the pathogen dynamics. We describe some of similarities and differences between these 2 fields and how the epidemic modeling community is rising to the challenges posed by forecasting to help anticipate and guide the mitigation of epidemics. We conclude that some of the fundamental differences between these 2 fields, such as human behavior, make disease forecasting more challenging than weather forecasting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Dave Osthus
- Computer, Computational & Statistical Sciences Division
| | - Reid Priedhorsky
- High Performance Computing Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
| | - James Hyman
- Theoretical Division
- Department of Mathematics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
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42
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Nardin LG, Miller CR, Ridenhour BJ, Krone SM, Joyce P, Baumgaertner BO. Planning horizon affects prophylactic decision-making and epidemic dynamics. PeerJ 2016; 4:e2678. [PMID: 27843714 PMCID: PMC5103819 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The spread of infectious diseases can be impacted by human behavior, and behavioral decisions often depend implicitly on a planning horizon—the time in the future over which options are weighed. We investigate the effects of planning horizons on epidemic dynamics. We developed an epidemiological agent-based model (along with an ODE analog) to explore the decision-making of self-interested individuals on adopting prophylactic behavior. The decision-making process incorporates prophylaxis efficacy and disease prevalence with the individuals’ payoffs and planning horizon. Our results show that for short and long planning horizons individuals do not consider engaging in prophylactic behavior. In contrast, individuals adopt prophylactic behavior when considering intermediate planning horizons. Such adoption, however, is not always monotonically associated with the prevalence of the disease, depending on the perceived protection efficacy and the disease parameters. Adoption of prophylactic behavior reduces the epidemic peak size while prolonging the epidemic and potentially generates secondary waves of infection. These effects can be made stronger by increasing the behavioral decision frequency or distorting an individual’s perceived risk of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis G Nardin
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Craig R Miller
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Mathematics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Benjamin J Ridenhour
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Stephen M Krone
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Mathematics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Paul Joyce
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Mathematics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Bert O Baumgaertner
- Center for Modeling Complex Interactions, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States.,Department of Politics and Philosophy, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
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43
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Moran KR, Del Valle SY. A Meta-Analysis of the Association between Gender and Protective Behaviors in Response to Respiratory Epidemics and Pandemics. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0164541. [PMID: 27768704 PMCID: PMC5074573 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2016] [Accepted: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Respiratory infectious disease epidemics and pandemics are recurring events that levy a high cost on individuals and society. The health-protective behavioral response of the public plays an important role in limiting respiratory infectious disease spread. Health-protective behaviors take several forms. Behaviors can be categorized as pharmaceutical (e.g., vaccination uptake, antiviral use) or non-pharmaceutical (e.g., hand washing, face mask use, avoidance of public transport). Due to the limitations of pharmaceutical interventions during respiratory epidemics and pandemics, public health campaigns aimed at limiting disease spread often emphasize both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical behavioral interventions. Understanding the determinants of the public’s behavioral response is crucial for devising public health campaigns, providing information to parametrize mathematical models, and ultimately limiting disease spread. While other reviews have qualitatively analyzed the body of work on demographic determinants of health-protective behavior, this meta-analysis quantitatively combines the results from 85 publications to determine the global relationship between gender and health-protective behavioral response. The results show that women in the general population are about 50% more likely than men to adopt/practice non-pharmaceutical behaviors. Conversely, men in the general population are marginally (about 12%) more likely than women to adopt/practice pharmaceutical behaviors. It is possible that factors other than pharmaceutical/non-pharmaceutical status not included in this analysis act as moderators of this relationship. These results suggest an inherent difference in how men and women respond to epidemic and pandemic respiratory infectious diseases. This information can be used to target specific groups when developing non-pharmaceutical public health campaigns and to parameterize epidemic models incorporating demographic information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly R. Moran
- Analytics, Intelligence and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Sara Y. Del Valle
- Analytics, Intelligence and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America
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Andrews MA, Bauch CT. The impacts of simultaneous disease intervention decisions on epidemic outcomes. J Theor Biol 2016; 395:1-10. [PMID: 26829313 PMCID: PMC7094134 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Revised: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Mathematical models of the interplay between disease dynamics and human behavioural dynamics can improve our understanding of how diseases spread when individuals adapt their behaviour in response to an epidemic. Accounting for behavioural mechanisms that determine uptake of infectious disease interventions such as vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) can significantly alter predicted health outcomes in a population. However, most previous approaches that model interactions between human behaviour and disease dynamics have modelled behaviour of these two interventions separately. Here, we develop and analyze an agent based network model to gain insights into how behaviour toward both interventions interact adaptively with disease dynamics (and therefore, indirectly, with one another) during the course of a single epidemic where an SIRV infection spreads through a contact network. In the model, individuals decide to become vaccinated and/or practice NPIs based on perceived infection prevalence (locally or globally) and on what other individuals in the network are doing. We find that introducing adaptive NPI behaviour lowers vaccine uptake on account of behavioural feedbacks, and also decreases epidemic final size. When transmission rates are low, NPIs alone are as effective in reducing epidemic final size as NPIs and vaccination combined. Also, NPIs can compensate for delays in vaccine availability by hindering early disease spread, decreasing epidemic size significantly compared to the case where NPI behaviour does not adapt to mitigate early surges in infection prevalence. We also find that including adaptive NPI behaviour strongly mitigates the vaccine behavioural feedbacks that would otherwise result in higher vaccine uptake at lower vaccine efficacy as predicted by most previous models, and the same feedbacks cause epidemic final size to remain approximately constant across a broad range of values for vaccine efficacy. Finally, when individuals use local information about others' behaviour and infection prevalence, instead of population-level information, infection is controlled more efficiently through ring vaccination, and this is reflected in the time evolution of pair correlations on the network. This model shows that accounting for both adaptive NPI behaviour and adaptive vaccinating behaviour regarding social effects and infection prevalence can result in qualitatively different predictions than if only one type of adaptive behaviour is modelled.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chris T Bauch
- University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd. E. Guelph, Ontario, Canada; University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
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Xiang H, Song NN, Huo HF. Modelling effects of public health educational campaigns on drinking dynamics. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2016; 10:164-178. [PMID: 26673882 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2015.1115562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This paper deals with the global property of a drinking model with public health educational campaigns. With the help of Lyapunov function, global stability of equilibria of the model is derived. The alcohol-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the alcohol problems are eliminated from population if [Formula: see text]. A unique alcohol present equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable if [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, the basic reproductive [Formula: see text] for the model is compared with the basic reproductive number [Formula: see text] for the absence of public health educational campaigns. We conclude that the public health educational campaigns of drinking individuals can slow down the drinking dynamics. Some numerical simulations are also given to explain our conclusions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Xiang
- a Department of Applied Mathematics , Lanzhou University of Technology , Lanzhou , Gansu 730050 , People's Republic of China
| | - Na-Na Song
- a Department of Applied Mathematics , Lanzhou University of Technology , Lanzhou , Gansu 730050 , People's Republic of China
| | - Hai-Feng Huo
- a Department of Applied Mathematics , Lanzhou University of Technology , Lanzhou , Gansu 730050 , People's Republic of China
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Misra AK, Sharma A, Shukla JB. Stability analysis and optimal control of an epidemic model with awareness programs by media. Biosystems 2015; 138:53-62. [PMID: 26551557 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2015.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 10/24/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The impact of awareness campaigns and behavioral responses on epidemic outbreaks has been reported at times. However, to what extent does the provision of awareness and behavioral changes affect the epidemic trajectory is unknown, but important from the public health standpoint. To address this question, we formulate a mathematical model to study the effect of awareness campaigns by media on the outbreak of an epidemic. The awareness campaigns are treated as an intervention for the emergent disease. These awareness campaigns divide the whole populations into two subpopulation; aware and unaware, by inducing behavioral changes amongst them. The awareness campaigns are included explicitly as a separate dynamic variable in the modeling process. The model is analyzed qualitatively using stability theory of differential equations. We have also identified an optimal implementation rate of awareness campaigns so that disease can be controlled with minimal possible expenditure on awareness campaigns, using optimal control theory. The control setting is investigated analytically using optimal control theory, and the numerical solutions illustrating the optimal regimens under various assumptions are also shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- A K Misra
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.
| | - Anupama Sharma
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.
| | - J B Shukla
- BIT, BIIFR&D, Bhabha Group of Institutions, Kanpur 209 204, India.
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Cherif A, Barley K, Hurtado M. Homo-psychologicus: Reactionary behavioural aspects of epidemics. Epidemics 2015; 14:45-53. [PMID: 26972513 DOI: 10.1016/j.epidem.2015.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2015] [Revised: 08/17/2015] [Accepted: 09/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We formulate an in silico model of pathogen avoidance mechanism and investigate its impact on defensive behavioural measures (e.g., spontaneous social exclusions and distancing, crowd avoidance and voluntary vaccination adaptation). In particular, we use SIR(B)S (e.g., susceptible-infected-recovered with additional behavioural component) model to investigate the impact of homo-psychologicus aspects of epidemics. We focus on reactionary behavioural changes, which apply to both social distancing and voluntary vaccination participations. Our analyses reveal complex relationships between spontaneous and uncoordinated behavioural changes, the emergence of its contagion properties, and mitigation of infectious diseases. We find that the presence of effective behavioural changes can impede the persistence of disease. Furthermore, it was found that under perfect effective behavioural change, there are three regions in the response factor (e.g., imitation and/or reactionary) and behavioural scale factor (e.g., global/local) factors ρ-α behavioural space. Mainly, (1) disease is always endemic even in the presence of behavioural change, (2) behavioural-prevalence plasticity is observed and disease can sometimes be eradication, and (3) elimination of endemic disease under permanence of permanent behavioural change is achieved. These results suggest that preventive behavioural changes (e.g., non-pharmaceutical prophylactic measures, social distancing and exclusion, crowd avoidance) are influenced by individual differences in perception of risks and are a salient feature of epidemics. Additionally, these findings indicates that care needs to be taken when considering the effect of adaptive behavioural change in predicting the course of epidemics, and as well as the interpretation and development of the public health measures that account for spontaneous behavioural changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alhaji Cherif
- Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
| | - Kamal Barley
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3901, United States
| | - Marcel Hurtado
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3901, United States
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Pawelek KA, Salmeron C, Del Valle S. Connecting within and between-hosts dynamics in the influenza infection-staged epidemiological models with behavior change. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 3:233-243. [PMID: 29075652 DOI: 10.1166/jcsmd.2015.1082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Influenza viruses are a major public health problem worldwide. Although influenza has been extensively researched, there are still many aspects that are not fully understood such as the effects of within and between-hosts dynamics and their impact on behavior change. Here, we develop mathematical models with multiple infection stages and estimate parameters based on within-host data to investigate the impact of behavior change on influenza dynamics. We divide the infected population into three and four groups based on the age of the infection, which corresponds to viral load shedding. We consider within-host data on viral shedding to estimate the length and force of infection of the different infectivity stages. Our results show that behavior changes, due to exogenous events (e.g., media coverage) and disease symptoms, are effective in delaying and lowering an epidemic peak. We show that the dynamics of viral shedding and symptoms, during the infection, are key features when considering epidemic prevention strategies. This study improves our understanding of the spread of influenza virus infection in the population and provides information about the impact of emergent behavior and its connection to the within and between-hosts dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasia A Pawelek
- Department of Mathematics and Computational Science, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton, SC 29909, USA
| | - Cristian Salmeron
- Department of Mathematics and Computational Science, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton, SC 29909, USA
| | - Sara Del Valle
- Department of Mathematics and Computational Science, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton, SC 29909, USA
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Andrews MA, Bauch CT. Disease Interventions Can Interfere with One Another through Disease-Behaviour Interactions. PLoS Comput Biol 2015; 11:e1004291. [PMID: 26047028 PMCID: PMC4457811 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2014] [Accepted: 04/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Theoretical models of disease dynamics on networks can aid our understanding of how infectious diseases spread through a population. Models that incorporate decision-making mechanisms can furthermore capture how behaviour-driven aspects of transmission such as vaccination choices and the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) interact with disease dynamics. However, these two interventions are usually modelled separately. Here, we construct a simulation model of influenza transmission through a contact network, where individuals can choose whether to become vaccinated and/or practice NPIs. These decisions are based on previous experience with the disease, the current state of infection amongst one's contacts, and the personal and social impacts of the choices they make. We find that the interventions interfere with one another: because of negative feedback between intervention uptake and infection prevalence, it is difficult to simultaneously increase uptake of all interventions by changing utilities or perceived risks. However, on account of vaccine efficacy being higher than NPI efficacy, measures to expand NPI practice have only a small net impact on influenza incidence due to strongly mitigating feedback from vaccinating behaviour, whereas expanding vaccine uptake causes a significant net reduction in influenza incidence, despite the reduction of NPI practice in response. As a result, measures that support expansion of only vaccination (such as reducing vaccine cost), or measures that simultaneously support vaccination and NPIs (such as emphasizing harms of influenza infection, or satisfaction from preventing infection in others through both interventions) can significantly reduce influenza incidence, whereas measures that only support expansion of NPI practice (such as making hand sanitizers more available) have little net impact on influenza incidence. (However, measures that improve NPI efficacy may fare better.) We conclude that the impact of interference on programs relying on multiple interventions should be more carefully studied, for both influenza and other infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A. Andrews
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chris T. Bauch
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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50
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Sega L, Maxin D, Eaton L, Latham A, Moose A, Stenslie S. The effect of risk-taking behaviour in epidemic models. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2015; 9:229-246. [PMID: 26192082 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2015.1065351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We study an epidemic model that incorporates risk-taking behaviour as a response to a perceived low prevalence of infection that follows from the administration of an effective treatment or vaccine. We assume that knowledge about the number of infected, recovered and vaccinated individuals has an effect in the contact rate between susceptible and infectious individuals. We show that, whenever optimism prevails in the risk behaviour response, the fate of an epidemic may change from disease clearance to disease persistence. Moreover, under certain conditions on the parameters, increasing the efficiency of vaccine and/or treatment has the unwanted effect of increasing the epidemic reproductive number, suggesting a wider range of diseases may become endemic due to risk-taking alone. These results indicate that the manner in which treatment/vaccine effectiveness is advertised can have an important influence on how the epidemic unfolds.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Sega
- a Department of Mathematics , Georgia Regents University , 1120 15th Street, Augusta , GA 30912 , USA
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