Study says replacing ill workers with healthy ones may speed up an epidemic

Study says replacing ill workers with healthy ones may speed up an epidemic
When disease outbreaks occur, replacing infected key individuals with healthy ones may actually spread the illness more rapidly through a community, suggests a recent study.

The trio integrated this ‘human exchange’ into network models of disease and found that replacing sick individuals with healthy ones can actually accelerate the spread of infection. Scarpino and Hébert-Dufresne tested their ideas on 17 years’ worth of data on two diseases: influenza and dengue. Their analysis revealed that human exchange likely accelerates outbreaks of influenza, which spreads via human contact. But it has no effect on the spread of dengue– which makes sense, as dengue spreads via mosquitoes.’We didn’t see a strong signal in diseases where we didn’t expect it,’ said Hébert-Dufresne. Scarpino noted that he hopes to see this effect integrated into future epidemiological models. ‘Models where you start to incorporate slightly more realistic human behavior are essential if we’re going to make high-fidelity public health and clinical decisions,’ The study is published in Nature Physics . (Read: Don’t let a desk job affect your health. Tips to stay fit at work!)

Source: ANI

Photo source: Getty images (Image for representational purpose only)

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