Prosocial Behavior on Testing and Quarantine in an Epidemic Disease

Abstract

Effective management of disease outbreaks requires a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between individual decision-making, disease dynamics, and societal objectives. We incorporate a mathematical disease model coupling with behavior-driven testing and quarantining to mitigate disease and capture the social dilemma behind the dynamics using social efficiency deficit. The results indicate that a behavior-driven approach is more effective in controlling outbreaks and limiting disease spread compared to a constant strategy. The social dilemma reaches its peak at a critical transmission rate threshold, wherein either the proportion of symptomatic infectious individuals attains its maximum value or the rate of waning immunity surpasses a specific threshold. Furthermore, the social dilemma culminates when both the economic cost associated with the disease and the cost of quarantining symptomatic individuals reach their respective maxima, giving rise to a convergence of conflicting objectives between individual and societal interests. These findings underscore the complexity of disease management strategies and the importance of carefully balancing economic considerations with public health imperatives.

Keywords: Mathematical epidemiology, Testing and Quarantine, Immunity-waning, Behavior model, Socialefficiency deficit