Mixing patterns and the spread of close-contact infectious diseases

被引:93
作者
Edmunds W.J. [1 ]
Kafatos G. [1 ]
Wallinga J. [2 ]
Mossong J.R. [3 ]
机构
[1] Statistics, Modelling and Bioinformatics Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London NW9 5EQ
[2] Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), 3720 BA Bilthoven
[3] Laboratoire National de Santé, L-1011, Luxembourg
来源
Emerging Themes in Epidemiology | / 3卷 / 1期
关键词
Influenza; Measle; Intimate Contact; Sampling Occasion; Meningococcal Disease;
D O I
10.1186/1742-7622-3-10
中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
Surprisingly little is known regarding the human mixing patterns relevant to the spread of close-contact infections, such as measles, influenza and meningococcal disease. This study aims to estimate the number of partnerships that individuals make, their stability and the degree to which mixing is assortative with respect to age. We defined four levels of putative at-risk events from casual (physical contact without conversation) to intimate (contact of a sexual nature), and asked university student volunteers to record details on those they contacted at these levels on three separate days. We found that intimate contacts are stable over short time periods whereas there was no evidence of repeat casual contacts with the same individuals. The contacts were increasingly assortative as intimacy increased. Such information will aid the development and parameterisation of models of close contact diseases, and may have direct use in outbreak investigations. © 2006 Edmunds et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
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