Mechanics of pandemics

COVID-19 and previous pandemics have shown how diseases can disrupt, threaten, and transform daily life. Since
pathogens and societies are continuously evolving, every pandemic is different. However, certain fundamental
principles of disease transmission appear to hold true across different outbreaks. These “mechanisms” are
grounded in natural laws or the very structure of our biology and societies. This paper compiles ten fundamental
mechanisms, curated by a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds spanning public health, medicine, epidemi-
ology, political science, mathematics, physics, and psychology. These mechanisms, although perhaps underappre-
ciated, substantially shape how pandemics unfold and are controlled. The better we succeed in understanding these
mechanisms and establishing this knowledge in our societies, the better we will be able to prepare for future
pandemics and respond appropriately when they occur.