Minimizing epidemic spread through mitigation of anti-vaccine opinion propagation

Alahmadi, Sarah Hamed, Hoyle, Rebecca and Brede, Markus (2023) Minimizing epidemic spread through mitigation of anti-vaccine opinion propagation. French Regional Conference on Complex Systems<br/>FRCCS 2023, Le Havre, France, Le Havre, France. 31 May - 02 Jun 2023. pp. 1-4 . (In Press)

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

In this study we investigate the impact of vaccination attitudes,
as a social contagion, on disease dynamics. Vaccine-related negative information poses a significant concern since it is a major motivator of vaccination hesitancy. This information may cause social contagion of anti-vaccination opinions, resulting in clusters of unprotected people and potentially larger epidemic outbreaks. Therefore, this research aims to minimize the spread of an epidemic by mitigating anti-vaccine social contagion with an effective countercampaign that promotes vaccination. In a coupled-dynamic model describing processes of opinion diffusion and disease spreading, we propose a number of techniques to mitigate the propagation of anti-vaccine opinions and prevent the expansion of anti-vaccine communities. We observed that the existence of pro-vaccine sentiments has a varying impact on the incidence of epidemics. Additionally, our research demonstrates that targeted positive campaigns can effectively reduce epidemics compared to a random approach.

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