Dynamical interplay between awareness and epidemic spreading in multiplex networks

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how awareness and epidemic spreading interact on multiplex networks, revealing how awareness influences epidemic thresholds and incidence through a microscopic Markov chain approach.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of epidemic-awareness interplay on multiplex networks, highlighting the impact of virtual social contact topology on epidemic thresholds.

Findings

Awareness increases epidemic threshold, reducing infection incidence.

The critical point depends on virtual network topology and awareness dynamics.

Epidemic onset is delayed by awareness spreading in multiplex networks.

Abstract

We present the analysis of the interrelation between two processes accounting for the spreading of an epidemics, and the information awareness to prevent its infection, on top of multiplex networks. This scenario is representative of an epidemic process spreading on a network of persistent real contacts, and a cyclic information awareness process diffusing in the network of virtual social contacts between the same individuals. The topology corresponds to a multiplex network where two diffusive processes are interacting affecting each other. The analysis using a Microscopic Markov Chain Approach (MMCA) reveals the phase diagram of the incidence of the epidemics and allows to capture the evolution of the epidemic threshold depending on the topological structure of the multiplex and the interrelation with the awareness process. Interestingly, the critical point for the onset of the epidemics has a critical value (meta-critical point) defined by the awareness dynamics and the topology of the virtual network, from which the onset increases and the epidemics incidence decreases.