Combating anti-vaccine social contagion and its impact on infectious disease dynamics: a computational approach

Abstract

Vaccination is essential in combating infectious diseases and mitigating the extent of disease outbreaks. However, vaccine hesitancy represents a significant obstacle in the vaccination process. According to WHO, vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten threats to public health. A key driver of this hesitancy is the
spread of negative vaccine-related information within social networks, which may discourage unvaccinated individuals from receiving vaccinations. Many studies have explored the dynamics of epidemic spread and its relationship to behavioural choices about the adoption of vaccines. However, there is limited research addressing the impact of mitigating the diffusion of anti-vaccine opinions on the dynamics of infectious diseases. In this study, through a coupled agent-based model that integrates a model for changes in opinions about vaccine adoption with the process of disease spread, we aim to design an optimal counter-campaign to negative information. We do this by promoting positive vaccine information to counteract the spread of anti-vaccine sentiments, with the ultimate goal of suppressing the spread of an epidemic.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Rebecca Hoyle: orcid.org/0000-0002-1645-1071

ORCID for Michael Head: orcid.org/0000-0003-1189-0531

Catalogue record

Export record