As we enter flu season, researchers are finding intriguing similarities between the flu and the spread of misinformation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has enabled the global healthcare community to significantly enhance its understanding of vaccine development and public health strategies for curbing disease transmission. However, it also provided an opportunity for researchers to delve deeper into another type of contagion: the spread of ideas.
Mathematician and assistant professor of biology Nicholas Landry, who specializes in contagion research, is investigating how human interaction networks influence the dissemination of both diseases and information. His goal is to comprehend how social relationships contribute not only to the spread of illnesses but also to the circulation of thoughts and ideologies.
In a recent paper published in Physical Review E with colleagues from the University of Vermont, Landry introduces a blended approach to studying social networks. This approach seeks to deduce not only social relationships but also the principles that dictate the spread of both contagion and information.
“The pandemic has provided us with more data on diseases than ever before,” Landry remarked. “The pressing question is, what can we do with this data, and how much do we need to understand the connections between people?”
According to Landry, the crucial factor in leveraging this data lies in recognizing its limitations and assessing the reliability of epidemic models when making predictions.
His research indicates that rebuilding the foundational social networks and their influence on contagion is considerably easier for diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, Mpox, or rhinovirus. Nevertheless, it may be less effective in enlightening our understanding of the transmission of extremely contagious diseases like measles or chickenpox.
On the other hand, regarding highly viral trends or pieces of information, Landry posits that it might be possible to track their spread with greater accuracy than we can for certain diseases. This insight will be invaluable for future initiatives aimed at deciphering the routes of both contagion and misinformation.
