Interplay Between Higher-Order Information Diffusion and Epidemic Spreading Under Asymmetric Intercity Commuting

Information dissemination and intercity commuting jointly shape epidemic dynamics, but their combined effects in heterogeneous cities require further investigation. We develop a two-layer model coupling information diffusion through pairwise interactions and 2-simplices with susceptible–infected–susceptible disease transmission in two cities differing in population size and transmission conditions. Asymmetric commuting generates additional cross-city contacts while preserving within-city contact structures, and informed individuals receive protection against infection. Using the microscopic Markov chain method, we derive the critical transmission probability βc from the spectral radius of an effective transmission matrix. The predicted stationary infection densities agree well with Monte Carlo simulations. Stronger pairwise information transmission suppresses infection and raises βc, with the latter effect approaching saturation. Under the investigated conditions, higher-order information transmission mainly changes the distribution of information states and has a comparatively limited effect on prevalence. Stronger commuting generally increases prevalence, whereas its influence on βc depends on the city network structure. Variations in information-induced protection produce larger threshold changes than variations in commuting intensity over the examined parameter ranges. Moreover, faster withdrawal from active information dissemination weakens epidemic suppression even when individual protection persists. These findings clarify the distinct roles of sustained information dissemination, individual protection, and commuting contacts in coupled epidemic dynamics.