a b s t r a c tIn this paper, we study the interplay between the epidemic spreading and the diffusion of awareness in multiplex networks. In the model, an infectious disease can spread in one network representing the paths of epidemic spreading (contact network), leading to the diffusion of awareness in the other network (information network), and then the diffusion of awareness will cause individuals to take social distances, which in turn affects the epidemic spreading. As for the diffusion of awareness, we assume that, on the one hand, individuals can be informed by other aware neighbors in information network, on the other hand, the susceptible individuals can be self-awareness induced by the infected neighbors in the contact networks (local information) or mass media (global information). Through Markov chain approach and numerical computations, we find that the density of infected individuals and the epidemic threshold can be affected by the structures of the two networks and the effective transmission rate of the awareness. However, we prove that though the introduction of the self-awareness can lower the density of infection, which cannot increase the epidemic threshold no matter of the local information or global information. Our finding is remarkably different to many previous results on single-layer network: local information based behavioral response can alter the epidemic threshold. Furthermore, our results indicate that the nodes with more neighbors (hub nodes) in information networks are easier to be informed, as a result, their risk of infection in contact networks can be effectively reduced.

In this paper, the interplay of epidemic spreading and the strategy-mixed awareness diffusion within the framework of multiplex networks is studied. In the model, epidemics can spread through a physical-contact layer and the awareness can diffuse through a virtual-contact layer. Each node on physical-contact layer is randomly matched one-to-one with a node of virtual-contact layer, but the connectivity is distinct in each of them. In view of the complexity of human behaviors, we assume that the diffusion of awareness is ruled by two mixed contagion dynamics: a fraction [Formula: see text] of individuals adopt the herd-like dynamics and the others follow the epidemic-like dynamics. We analyze the epidemic threshold based on the microscopic Markov chain approach. Meanwhile, combing with the Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, we show that the strategy-mixed awareness diffusion mechanism can enrich the dynamics of epidemic spreading, including the crossover phenomenon of the final epidemic size, the two-stage effect of the local awareness rate, and so forth.

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