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Ten Hidden Rules That Shape How Pandemics Spread and Kill
Seba Contreras, Philipp Dönges, Laura Müller, Piklu Mallick, Sydney Paltra, Ulrik Hvid, Robyn J. N. Kettlitz, Andreas Reitenbach, Rodrigo Amaral Lind, Maíra Aguiar, Philip Bechtle, André Calero Valdez, Ronja Gronemeyer, Manuela Harries, Veronika K. Jaeger, André Karch, Carolina J. Klett-Tammen, Peter Klimek, Mirjam E. Kretzschmar, Kai Nagel, Bjarke Frost Nielsen, Barbara Prainsack, Isabella M. Radhuber, Lone Simonsen, Kim Sneppen, Janik Suer, Viola Priesemann
May 29, 2026
A multidisciplinary team identified ten fundamental principles—rooted in biology, physics, and social structure—that govern how diseases spread and damage societies. These aren't new discoveries but often-overlooked basics: how respiratory viruses travel through air, why early intervention works exponentially better than late response, how behavior changes during fear. The patterns hold across COVID-19, flu, and historical outbreaks.
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