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. 2023 Oct 31;14(1):6954.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42612-9.

The counterintuitive implications of superspreading diseases

Bjarke Frost Nielsen  1   2 , Kim Sneppen  3 , Lone Simonsen  4
Affiliations

The counterintuitive implications of superspreading diseases

Bjarke Frost Nielsen et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Superspreading is known to have played an important role in the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2. In this Comment, the authors discuss how knowledge of the extent and cause of superspreading is important for designing appropriate control measures for emerging infectious diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Superspreading as a determinant of outbreak control.
Superspreading diseases exhibit a skewed distribution of infectiousness, where most infected individuals transmit to very few or none at all, while a minority spread the disease to large numbers of people (left panel). In this case, limiting gatherings and situations where many people meet (even briefly) has an outsized mitigating effect, as shown by the epidemic curves at the bottom of the left panel, which result from agent-based simulations of a superspreading disease. In diseases where transmission is more evenly distributed (non-superspreading, right panel), such interventions do not hold the same potential for outbreak control. Data from Sneppen et al.. ProPublica’s Wee People font used for human silhouettes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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