Abstract
Resource support between individuals is of particular importance in controlling or mitigating epidemic spreading, especially during pandemics. However, there remains the question of how we can protect ourselves from being infected while helping others by donating resources in fighting against the epidemic. To answer the question, we propose a novel resource allocation model by considering the awareness of self-protection of individuals. In the model, a tuning parameter is introduced to quantify the reaction strength of individuals when they are aware of the disease. And then, a coupled model of resource allocation and disease spreading is proposed to study the impact of self-awareness on resource allocation and its impact on the dynamics of epidemic spreading. Through theoretical analysis and extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we find that in the stationary state, the system converges to two states: the whole healthy or the completely infected, which indicates an abrupt increase in the prevalence when there is a shortage of resources. More importantly, we find that too cautious and too selfless for the people during the outbreak of an epidemic are both not suitable for disease control. Through extensive simulations, we locate the optimal point, at which there is a maximum value of the epidemic threshold, and an outbreak can be delayed to the greatest extent. At last, we study further the effects of the network structure on the coupled dynamics. We find that the degree heterogeneity promotes the outbreak of disease, and the network structure does not alter the optimal phenomenon in behavior response. Based on the results of this study, a constructive suggestion is that in the face of a global pandemic, individuals or countries should strengthen mutual support and cooperation while doing their own prevention to suppress the epidemic optimally.
Highlights
Controlling the outbreak of epidemic is one of the most important topics in human history
To quantify the awareness for self-protection, a parameter α is assigned to each individual. rough theoretical analysis and numeric simulations, we find that the system has only two stationary states, namely, the absorb state and the globe outbreak state
We have focused on the problem of how can we protect ourselves from being infected while helping others by donating resources during an outbreak of an epidemic
Summary
Controlling the outbreak of epidemic is one of the most important topics in human history. Preciado et al [11] studied the problem of the optimal distribution of vaccination resources to control epidemic spreading based on complex networks. Ey proposed a coevolution spreading model on multiplex networks and found a hybrid phase transition on networks with heterogeneous degree distribution In this multiplex network framework, Chen et al [19] further studied the impact of preferential resource allocation on the social subnetwork on the spreading dynamics of the epidemic. A mass of works on the coevolution of awareness diffusion and disease spreading have been carried out, a question that needs to be addressed is how does awareness affect the behavior of resource donation in populations To answer this question, a novel resource allocation model that incorporates the influence of the awareness is proposed in this paper. We find that the epidemic threshold increases with the decrease in degree heterogeneity, which suggests that network heterogeneity promotes the outbreak of disease
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