The "digital pathogen" concept: epidemiological approach to problem of disorders associated with information...

The article is devoted to conceptualization of current scientific experience of studying disorders associated with information technologies. Over the past decades, prevalence of information technologies in world modern society occurs with such intensity that detailed study of influence of this factor on health is significantly lagged behind. In the last decade, a number of pathological conditions associated with application of modern information technologies, in particular psychological and psychiatric profile, was described. The new concepts of Internet addiction, gambling, problematic use of technologies, etc., describing individual response of patients, are introduced. At that, lack of fundamental understanding of both etiology and pathogenesis of described conditions due to multiform specifics, high comorbidity and active evolution of digital society. The article attempts to fill this gap and to approach issue on population scale, namely to evaluate from perspective of epidemiological method characteristics of occurrence, spread and termination of pathogenic effects. The analysis of existing studies suggests that causation of emerging disorders is related not only to addictive behavior and prolonged exposure to information flow, but also to different pathogenicity of its particular components, causing various clinical forms of health disorders in individual with different levels of susceptibility. The pattern of new unique pathogen with specific propagation in human population is described - indirectly through digital environment - and capable of replication within specific ecological niche, i.e. digital pathogen tropic to bio-substrates of higher nervous activity. At that, the duration of contact with digital environment is considered as necessary but insufficient cause of development of pathological process that corresponds to empirical data. The most important property of digital pathogen propagation is its ability to replicate in anthropogenic abiotic digital environment, which is conditioned by its nature, mechanisms of accumulation and distribution. It is also noteworthy that basic principles of dissemination of information flows in social networks largely repeat principles of propagation of infectious pathogens in nature and are characterized by unique mechanism and ways of its transmission. It is concluded that in modern conditions there is a need to study problem of pathology associated with digital environment at population level from position of epidemiological method. The important aspects are joint efforts in studying and classifying new pathogen at interdisciplinary level and developing preventive measures.