Modeling the Interplay Between Human Behavior and the Spread of Infectious Diseases

This volume summarizes the state-of-the-art in the fast growing research area of modeling the influence of information-driven human behavior on the spread and control of infectious diseases. In particular, it features the two main and inter-related “core” topics: behavioral changes in response to global threats, for example, pandemic influenza, and the pseudo-rational opposition to vaccines. The motivation comes from the fact that people are likely to change their behavior and their propensity to vaccinate themselves and their children based on information and rumors about the spread of a disease. As a consequence there is a feedback effect that may deeply affect the dynamics of epidemics and endemics. In order to make realistic predictions, modelers need to go beyond classical mathematical epidemiology to take these dynamic effects into account.

With contributions from experts in this field, the book fills a void in the literature. It goes beyond classical texts, yet preserves the rationale of many of them by sticking to the underlying biology without compromising on scientific rigor. Epidemiologists, theoretical biologists, biophysicists, applied mathematicians, and PhD students will benefit from this book. However, it is also written for Public Health professionals interested in understanding models, and for advanced undergraduate students, since it only requires a working knowledge of mathematical epidemiology.