Epidemic Spreading–Information Dissemination Coupling Mechanism in Heterogeneous Areas

With COVID-19 continuing to rage around the world, there is a spread of epidemic-related information on social networking platforms. This phenomenon may inhibit or promote the scale of epidemic transmission. This study constructed a double-layer epidemic spreading–information dissemination network based on the movements of individuals across regions to analyze the dynamic evolution and coupling mechanism of information dissemination and epidemic transmission. We also proposed measures to control the spread of the epidemic by analyzing the factors affecting dynamic transmission. We constructed a state probability equation based on Markov chain theory and performed Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate the interaction between information dissemination and epidemic transmission. The simulation results showed that the higher the information dissemination rate, the larger the scale of information dissemination and the smaller the scale of epidemic transmission. In addition, the higher the recovery rate of the epidemic or the lower the infection rate of the epidemic, the smaller the scale of information dissemination and the smaller the scale of epidemic transmission. Moreover, the greater the probability of individuals moving across regions, the larger the spread of the epidemic and information. Finally, the higher the probability of an individual taking preventive behavior, the smaller the spread of the epidemic and information. Therefore, it is possible to suppress epidemic spread by increasing the information dissemination rate, epidemic recovery rate, and probability of individuals taking preventive behavior, while also reducing the infection rate of the epidemic and appropriately implementing regional blockades.