Impact of network structure on spread of competing diseases

Understanding the nature and behavior of the spread of diseases amongst individuals in a social network requires consideration of the network´s structure and the effects of these structures on the disease outbreaks. One of the most basic parameters for network structures is the degrees of nodes and their distribution. Depending on the type of degree distribution (Poisson, power-law, exponential, etc.), various types of network structures are formed with varying disease outbreaks. Behavior of two competing diseases on a contact network of individuals is most affected by this parameter of degree distribution. In this article, the spreading process of two competing diseases and their impact on each other is presented using numerical simulations and analytical results on various network structures by MATLAB software. For each disease to be transferred from a person to another, it needs to have transmissibility greater than a threshold, which is called the epidemic threshold. Obtained results and patterns from the analysis are helpful for the intermediation in the case of two competing diseases and can help eliminate their outbreaks.