Sociality and disease: behavioral perspectives in ecological and evolutionary immunology

Sickness behaviour within cleaning interactions

“…Reduced spatial distance and the specific locations where interactions occur, such as doctors' waiting rooms, where there is a higher infection pressure, increasing the risk of transmission for those who attend such disease hotspots (Narvaez, Vaughan, et al, 2021) (Kappeler et al, 2015;Rosengaus et al, 2022;Schmid-Hempel, 2021).…”

“…One possible tool for early disease recognition is the identification of common sickness behaviours exhibited by infected individuals. These behaviours encompass several modifications including lethargy, somnolence, anorexia, as well as withdrawal from social interactions, characterized by a drop in interest in social activities (Lopes, 2014; Lopes et al, 2012; Rosengaus et al, 2022). Several factors may facilitate disease spread in the context of social interactions.…”

“…In an unprecedented way, the recent COVID pandemic brought to our attention the need to consider the costs of social living, such as disease transmission, and, similarly, what measures social species can use to prevent these costs [1,2]. Considering how social interactions create opportunities for diseases to spread, strategies can be employed to prevent disease transmission, such as early recognition of infected individuals and associated measures that reduce the costs of infections [3,1] characterized by a drop in interest in social activities [3,4,5].…”

“…Several factors may facilitate disease spread in the context of social interactions. Reduced spatial distance and the specific locations where interactions occur, such as doctors’ waiting rooms, where there is a higher infection pressure, increasing the risk of transmission for those who attend such disease hotspots [6, 7, 5, 1].…”

“…Social distancing is a basic, low-cost behavioural strategy that individuals can use to mitigate disease spread [8, 1, 2]. Nevertheless, contrary to initial perceptions, humans are far from being the only animal that increase the distance between individuals (social distancing) and employ active behavioural strategies to avoid disease [5, 9, 2]. Sickness behaviour, active self-isolation, social avoidance and exclusion of sick individuals, and other adaptative strategies, including changes in appearance, smell and vocalisations, are commonly used [5, 9].…”