Dynamic and game theory of infectious disease stigmas

Publication date: Available online 30 May 2019Source: Journal of Theoretical BiologyAuthor(s): Timothy C. Reluga, Rachel A. Smith, David P. HughesAbstractStigmas are a primal phenomena, ubiquitous in human societies past and present. Some evolutionary anthropologists have argued that stigmatization in response to disease is an adaptive behavior because stigmatization may help people and communities reduce the risks they face from infectious diseases and increase reproductive success. On the other hand, some cultural anthropologists and social critics argue that stigmatization has strong negative impacts on community health. One recent analysis resolved this conflict by hypothesizing that stigmas had individual and group-evolutionary benefits but are now maladaptive because of an intervening societal transitions.Here, we present the first quantitative theory of infectious disease stigmatization. Using a four-compartment model of stigmatization against a chronic disease, we show a stigma ratio, being the ratio of net transmissions by stigmatized people to net transmissions by unstigmatized people, predicts the impact of stigmatization on lifetime infection risk. When stigmatized people are segregated from the rest of the population and there are no alternative interventions that reduce transmission, stigmatization can reduce prevalence and infection risk. When stigmas do not lead to segregation but do discourage behavior change and reduce access to medical interventions, stigma...
Source: Journal of Theoretical Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research