Effects of official information and rumor on resource-epidemic coevolution dynamics

J King Saud Univ Comput Inf Sci. 2022 Nov;34(10):9207-9215. doi: 10.1016/j.jksuci.2022.09.003. Epub 2022 Sep 8.

Abstract

Epidemic-related information and resources have proven to have a significant impact on the spread of the epidemic during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The various orientation role of information has different effects on the epidemic spreading process, which will affect the individual' awareness of resources allocation and epidemic spreading scale. Based on this, a three-layer network is established to describe the dynamic coevolution process among information dissemination, resource allocation, and epidemic spreading. In order to analyze dynamic coevolution process, the microscopic Markov chain (MMC) theory is used. Then, the threshold of epidemic spreading is deduced. Our results indicated that the official information orientation intensity inhibits the epidemics spreading, while rumor orientation intensity promotes epidemic spreading. At the same time, the efficiency of resource utilization restrains the expansion of the infection scale. The two kinds of information are combined with resources respectively. Official information will enhance the inhibitory effect of resources epidemics spreading, while rumor will do the opposite.

Keywords: Epidemic spreading; Multi-layer network; Official information dissemination; Resource allocation; Rumor dissemination.