Behavior-induced oscillations in epidemic outbreaks with distributed memory: beyond the linear chain trick using numerical methods

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: andò, Alessia, De Reggi, Simone, Scarabel, Francesca, Vermiglio, Rossana, Wu, Jianhong
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author andò, Alessia
De Reggi, Simone
Scarabel, Francesca
Vermiglio, Rossana
Wu, Jianhong
author_facet andò, Alessia
De Reggi, Simone
Scarabel, Francesca
Vermiglio, Rossana
Wu, Jianhong
contents We considered a model for an infectious disease outbreak, when the depletion of susceptible individuals is negligible, and assumed that individuals adapt their behavior according to the information they receive about new cases. In line with the information index approach, we supposed that individuals react to past information according to a memory kernel that is continuously distributed in the past. We analyzed equilibria and their stability, with analytical results for selected cases. Thanks to the recently developed pseudospectral approximation of delay equations, we studied numerically the long-term dynamics of the model for memory kernels defined by gamma distributions with a general non-integer shape parameter, extending the analysis beyond what is allowed by the linear chain trick. In agreement with previous studies, we showed that behavior adaptation alone can cause sustained waves of infections even in an outbreak scenario, and notably in the absence of other processes like demographic turnover, seasonality, or waning immunity. Our analysis gives a more general insight into how the period and peak of epidemic waves depend on the shape of the memory kernel and how the level of minimal contact impacts the stability of the behavior-induced positive equilibrium.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_21199
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Behavior-induced oscillations in epidemic outbreaks with distributed memory: beyond the linear chain trick using numerical methods
andò, Alessia
De Reggi, Simone
Scarabel, Francesca
Vermiglio, Rossana
Wu, Jianhong
Populations and Evolution
Dynamical Systems
We considered a model for an infectious disease outbreak, when the depletion of susceptible individuals is negligible, and assumed that individuals adapt their behavior according to the information they receive about new cases. In line with the information index approach, we supposed that individuals react to past information according to a memory kernel that is continuously distributed in the past. We analyzed equilibria and their stability, with analytical results for selected cases. Thanks to the recently developed pseudospectral approximation of delay equations, we studied numerically the long-term dynamics of the model for memory kernels defined by gamma distributions with a general non-integer shape parameter, extending the analysis beyond what is allowed by the linear chain trick. In agreement with previous studies, we showed that behavior adaptation alone can cause sustained waves of infections even in an outbreak scenario, and notably in the absence of other processes like demographic turnover, seasonality, or waning immunity. Our analysis gives a more general insight into how the period and peak of epidemic waves depend on the shape of the memory kernel and how the level of minimal contact impacts the stability of the behavior-induced positive equilibrium.
title Behavior-induced oscillations in epidemic outbreaks with distributed memory: beyond the linear chain trick using numerical methods
topic Populations and Evolution
Dynamical Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.21199