scholarly journals Analyzing the demographic, spatial, and temporal factors influencing social contact patterns in U.S. and implications for infectious disease spread

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey M. Dorélien ◽  
Aparna Ramen ◽  
Isabella Swanson ◽  
Rachelle Hill
Keyword(s):  
Social Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Physical Proximity ◽  
Household Contacts ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Close Physical Proximity ◽  
The Mean ◽  
At Home

Abstract Background Diseases such as COVID-19 are spread through social contact. Reducing social contacts is required to stop disease spread in pandemics for which vaccines have not yet been developed. However, existing data on social contact patterns in the United States (U.S.) is limited. Method We use American Time Use Survey data from 2003–2018 to describe and quantify the age-pattern of disease-relevant social contacts. For within-household contacts, we construct age-structured contact duration matrices (who spends time with whom, by age). For both within-household and non-household contacts, we also estimate the mean number and duration of contact by location. We estimate and test for differences in the age-pattern of social contacts based on demographic, temporal, and spatial characteristics. Results The mean number and duration of social contacts vary by age. The biggest gender differences in the age-pattern of social contacts are at home and at work; the former appears to be driven by caretaking responsibilities. Non-Hispanic Blacks have a shorter duration of contact and fewer social contacts than non-Hispanic Whites. This difference is largely driven by fewer and shorter contacts at home. Pre-pandemic, non-Hispanic Blacks have shorter durations of work contacts. Their jobs are more likely to require close physical proximity, so their contacts are riskier than those of non-Hispanic Whites. Hispanics have the highest number of household contacts and are also more likely to work in jobs requiring close physical proximity than non-Hispanic Whites. With the exceptions of work and school contacts, the duration of social contact is higher on weekends than on weekdays. Seasonal differences in the total duration of social contacts are driven by school-aged respondents who have significantly shorter contacts during the summer months. Contact patterns did not differ by metro status. Age patterns of social contacts were similar across regions. Conclusion Social contact patterns differ by age, race and ethnicity, and gender. Other factors besides contact patterns may be driving seasonal variation in disease incidence if school-aged individuals are not an important source of transmission. Pre-pandemic, there were no spatial differences in social contacts, but this finding has likely changed during the pandemic.

scholarly journals The differential impact of physical distancing strategies on social contacts relevant for the spread of COVID-19: Evidence from a multi-country survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Del Fava ◽  
Jorge Cimentada ◽  
Daniela Perrotta ◽  
André Grow ◽  
Francesco Rampazzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Facebook Advertising ◽  
Net Reproduction ◽  
The Impact

AbstractPhysical distancing measures are intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, even though their impact on social contacts and disease transmission remains unclear. Obtaining timely data on social contact patterns can help to assess the impact of such protective measures. We conducted an online opt-in survey based on targeted Facebook advertising campaigns across seven European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom (UK)) and the United States (US), achieving a sample of 53,708 questionnaires in the period March 13–April 13, 2020. Post-stratification weights were produced to correct for biases. Data on social contact numbers, as well as on protective behaviour and perceived level of threat were collected and used to the expected net reproduction number by week, Rt, with respect to pre-pandemic data. Compared to social contacts reported prior to COVID-19, in mid-April daily social contact numbers had decreased between 49% in Germany and 83% in Italy, ranging from below three contacts per day in France, Spain, and the UK up to four in Germany and the Netherlands. Such reductions were sufficient to bring Rt to one or even below in all countries, except Germany. Evidence from the US and the UK showed that the number of daily social contacts mainly decreased after governments issued the first physical distancing guidelines. Finally, although contact numbers decreased uniformly across age groups, older adults reported the lowest numbers of contacts, indicating higher levels of protection. We provided a comparable set of statistics on social contact patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic for eight high-income countries, disaggregated by week. As these estimates offer a more grounded alternative to the theoretical assumptions often used in epidemiological models, the scientific community could draw on this information for developing more realistic epidemic models of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Using wearable proximity sensors to characterize social contact patterns in a village of rural Malawi

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ozella ◽  
Daniela Paolotti ◽  
Guilherme Lichand ◽  
Jorge P. Rodríguez ◽  
Simon Haenni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
The Village

AbstractMeasuring close proximity interactions between individuals can provide key information on social contacts in human communities and related behaviours. This is even more essential in rural settings in low- and middle-income countries where there is a need to understand contact patterns for the implementation of strategies for social protection interventions. We report the quantitative assessment of contact patterns in a village in rural Malawi, based on proximity sensors technology that allows for high-resolution measurements of social contacts. Our results revealed that the community structure of the village was highly correlated with the household membership of the individuals, thus confirming the importance of the family ties within the village. Social contacts within households occurred mainly between adults and children, and adults and adolescents and most of the inter-household social relationships occurred among adults and among adolescents. At the individual level, age and gender social assortment were observed in the inter-household network, and age disassortativity was instead observed in intra-household networks. Moreover, we obtained a clear trend of the daily contact activity of the village. Family members congregated in the early morning, during lunch time and dinner time. In contrast, inter-household contact activity displayed a growth from the morning, reaching a maximum in the afternoon.The proximity sensors technology used in this study provided high resolution temporal data characterized by timescales comparable with those intrinsic to social dynamics and it thus allowed to have access to the level of information needed to understand the social context of the village.

scholarly journals A systematic review of social contact surveys to inform transmission models of close contact infections

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thang Van Hoang ◽  
Pietro Coletti ◽  
Alessia Melegaro ◽  
Jacco Wallinga ◽  
Carlos Grijalva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Sampling Schemes ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractSocial contact data are increasingly being used to inform models for infectious disease spread with the aim of guiding effective policies on disease prevention and control. In this paper, we undertake a systematic review of the study design, statistical analyses and outcomes of the many social contact surveys that have been published. Our primary focus is to identify the designs that have worked best and the most important determinants and to highlight the most robust findings.Two publicly accessible online databases were systematically searched for articles regarding social contact surveys. PRISMA guidelines were followed as closely as possible. In total, 64 social contact surveys were identified. These surveys were conducted in 24 countries, and more than 80% of the surveys were conducted in high-income countries. Study settings included general population (58%), schools/universities (37%) and health care/conference/research institutes (5%). The majority of studies did not focus on a specific age group (38%), whereas others focused on adults (32%) or children (19%). Retrospective and prospective designs were used mostly (45% and 41% of the surveys, respectively) with 6% using both for comparison purposes. The definition of a contact varied among surveys, e.g. a non-physical contact may require conversation, close proximity or both. Age, time schedule (e.g., weekday/weekend) and household size were identified as relevant determinants for contact pattern across a large number of studies. The surveys present a wide range of study designs. Throughout, we found that the overall contact patterns were remarkably robust for the study details. By considering the most common approach in each aspect of design (e.g., sampling schemes, data collection, definition of contact), we could identify a common practice approach that can be used to facilitate comparison between studies and for benchmarking future studies.

scholarly journals Estimating data-driven COVID-19 mitigation strategies for safe university reopening

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qihui Yang ◽  
Don M. Gruenbacher ◽  
Caterina M. Scoglio
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Events ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vaccination Rate ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
University Population ◽  
The University ◽  
University Settings ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions

AbstractAfter one pandemic year of remote or hybrid instructional modes, universities in the United States are now planning for an in-person fall semester in 2021. However, it is uncertain what the vaccination rate will look like after students, faculty, and staff return to campus. To help inform university-reopening policies, we collected survey data on social contact patterns and developed an agent-based model to simulate the spread of COVID-19 in university settings. In this paper, we aim to identify the immunity threshold that, if exceeded, would lead to a relatively safe on-campus experience for the university population. With relaxed non-pharmaceutical interventions, we estimated that immunity in at least 60% of the university population is needed for safe university reopening. Still, attention needs to be paid to extreme events that could lead to huge infection size spikes. At an immune level of 60%, continuing non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as wearing masks, could lead to an 89% reduction in the maximum cumulative infection, which reflects the possible non-negligible infection size from extreme events.

scholarly journals Assessing Age-Specific Vaccination Strategies and Post-Vaccination Reopening Policies for COVID-19 Control Using SEIR Modeling Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Wang ◽  
Hulin Wu ◽  
Sanyi Tang
Keyword(s):  
Age Structure ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Vaccination Rate ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Post Vaccination ◽  
Vaccination Strategies ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Effect Of Age

AbstractBackgroundAs the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, it is badly needed to develop vaccination guidelines to prioritize the vaccination delivery in order to effectively stop COVID-19 epidemic and minimize the loss.MethodsWe evaluated the effect of age-specific vaccination strategies on the number of infections and deaths using an SEIR model, considering the age structure and social contact patterns for different age groups for each of different countries.ResultsIn general, the vaccination priority should be given to those younger people who are active in social contacts to minimize the number of infections; while the vaccination priority should be given to the elderly to minimize the number of deaths. But this principle may not always apply when the interaction of age structure and age-specific social contact patterns is complicated. Partially reopening schools, workplaces or households, the vaccination priority may need to be adjusted accordingly.ConclusionsPrematurely reopening social contacts could initiate a new outbreak or even a new pandemic out of control if the vaccination rate and the detection rate are not high enough. Our result suggests that it requires at least nine months of vaccination before fully reopening social contacts in order to avoid a new pandemic.

scholarly journals University students and staff able to maintain low daily contact numbers during various COVID-19 guideline periods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Trickey ◽  
Emily Nixon ◽  
Hannah Christensen ◽  
Adam Finn ◽  
Amy Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Household Size ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Single Person ◽  
National Guidance ◽  
The Mean ◽  
University Settings ◽  
Rule Of Six

AbstractIntroductionUK universities re-opened in September 2020, despite the on-going coronavirus epidemic. During the first term, various national social distancing measures were introduced, including banning groups of >6 people and the second lockdown in November. COVID-19 can spread rapidly in university-settings, and students’ adherence to social distancing measures is critical for controlling transmission.MethodsWe measured university staff and student contact patterns via an online, longitudinal survey capturing self-reported contacts on the previous day. We investigated the change in contacts associated with COVID-19 guidance periods: post-first lockdown (23/06/2020-03/07/2020), relaxed guidance period (04/07/2020-13/09/2020), “rule-of-six” period (14/09/2020-04/11/2020), and the second lockdown (05/11/2020-25/11/2020).Results722 staff (4199 responses) (mean household size: 2.6) and 738 students (1906 responses) (mean household size: 4.5) were included in the study. Contact number decreased with age. Staff in single-person households reported fewer contacts than individuals in 2-and 3-person households, and individuals in 4-and 5-person households reported more contacts.For staff, daily contacts were higher in the relaxed guidance and “rule-of-six” periods (means: 3.2 and 3.5, respectively; medians: 3) than the post-first lockdown and second lockdown periods (means: 4.5 and 5.4, respectively; medians: 2). Few students responded until 05/10/2020, after which the median student contacts was 2 and the mean was 5.7, until the second lockdown when it dropped to 3.1.DiscussionUniversity staff and students responded to national guidance by altering their social contacts. The response in staff and students was similar, suggesting that students are able to adhere to social distancing guidance while at university.

Social contact patterns and leprosy disease: a case-control study in Bangladesh

2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. FEENSTRA ◽  
Q. NAHAR ◽  
D. PAHAN ◽  
L. OSKAM ◽  
J. H. RICHARDUS
Keyword(s):  
Case Control Study ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Endemic Areas ◽  
Control Study

SUMMARYSocioeconomic and culturally defined social contact patterns are expected to be an important determinant in the continuing transmission of Mycobacterium leprae in leprosy-endemic areas. In a case-control study in two districts in Bangladesh, we assessed the association between social contact patterns and the risk of acquiring clinical leprosy. Social contacts of 90 recently diagnosed patients were compared to those of 199 controls. Leprosy was associated with a more intensive social contact pattern in the home [odds ratio (OR) 1·09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·00–1·19, P = 0·043] and in the nearby neighbourhood (OR 1·07, 95% CI 1·03–1·11, P = 0·001). Although it is known that M. leprae spreads most easily within households of infected persons, in endemic areas social contacts within the neighbourhood, village or urban ward, also appear to be important for transmission. We advise that disease control measures in leprosy-endemic areas should not be limited to households, but include high-risk groups in the nearby neighbourhood of patients.

scholarly journals Prospective Diary Survey of Preschool Children's Social Contact Patterns: A Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-401
Author(s):  
Hyang Soon Oh ◽  
Mikyung Ryu
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Multiple Regression Model ◽  
Childcare Centers ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Day Of The Week

Purpose: This pilot study aimed to describe children's social contact patterns and to analyze factors related to their social contacts.Methods: The participants were 30 children aged ≥13 months to <7 years, whose teachers at childcare centers and parents at home were asked to maintain diaries of their social contacts prospectively for 24 hours. Data were collected from November 30, 2018, to January 7, 2019.Results: The 30 participating children were in contact with 363 persons in a 24-hours period (mean, 12.1±9.1). The number of contacts showed significant relationships with day of the week (p<.001), number of family members/cohabitants (p=.015), area of residence (p=.003), and type of housing (p=.002). A multiple regression model showed significantly higher numbers of contacts on weekdays (B=10.64, p=.010). Physical versus non-physical types of contact showed significant differences in terms of duration, location, and frequency (p<.001). The duration of contacts showed significant relationships with their location and frequency (p<.001), while the frequency of contacts was significantly related to their location (p<.001).Conclusion: This is the first survey describing the characteristics of Korean preschool children's social contacts. Further large-scale social contact studies of children should be conducted.

scholarly journals Household Members Do Not Contact Each Other at Random: Implications for Infectious Disease Modelling

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nele Goeyvaerts ◽  
Eva Santermans ◽  
Gail Potter ◽  
Andrea Torneri ◽  
Kim Van Kerckhove ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Household Contact ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Contact Density ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Contact Networks ◽  
Epidemic Simulation ◽  
Household Members ◽  
Contact Survey

Airborne infectious diseases such as influenza are primarily transmitted from human to human by means of social contacts and thus easily spread within households. Epidemic models, used to gain insight in infectious disease spread and control, typically rely on the assumption of random mixing within households. Until now there was no direct empirical evidence to support this assumption. Here, we present the first social contact survey specifically designed to study contact networks within households. The survey was conducted in Belgium (Flanders and Brussels) in 2010-2011. We analyzed data from 318 households totaling 1266 individuals with household sizes ranging from 2 to 7 members. Exponential-family random graph models (ERGMs) were fitted to the within-household contact networks to reveal the processes driving contact between household members, both on weekdays and weekends. The ERGMs showed a high degree of clustering and, specifically on weekdays, decreasing connectedness with increasing household size. Furthermore, we found that the odds of a contact between father and child is smaller than for any other pair except for older siblings. Epidemic simulation results suggest that within-household contact density is the main driver of differences in epidemic spread between complete and empirical-based household contact networks. The homogeneous mixing assumption may therefore be an adequate characterization of the within-household contact structure for the purpose of epidemic simulation. However, ignoring the contact density when inferring from an epidemic model will result in biased estimates of within-household transmission rates. Further research on the implementation of within-household contact networks in epidemic models is necessary.Significance StatementHouseholds have a pivotal role in the spread of airborne infectious diseases. Households are bridging units between schools and workplaces, and social contacts within households are frequent and intimate, allowing for rapid disease spread. Infectious disease models typically assume that members of a household contact each other randomly. Until now there was no direct empirical evidence to support this assumption. In this paper, we present the first social contact survey specifically designed to study contact networks within households with young children. We investigate which factors drive contacts between household members on one particular day by means of a statistical model. Our results suggest the importance of connectedness within households over heterogeneity in number of contacts.

scholarly journals An Examination of the Westermarck Hypothesis and the Role of Disgust in Incest Avoidance Among Fathers

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 147470491984992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesleigh E. Pullman ◽  
Kelly Babchishin ◽  
Michael C. Seto
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Physical Proximity ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Incest Avoidance ◽  
Close Physical Proximity ◽  
Westermarck Hypothesis

From an evolutionary perspective, incestuous behavior is puzzling. The goal of this study was to assess the tenability of the Westermarck hypothesis (1891, 1921)—that people who live in close physical proximity with one another during childhood will develop a sexual indifference or aversion toward one another—and the mediating role of disgust as an incest avoidance mechanism in father–daughter relationships. A sample of fathers with daughters ( N = 632) from Canada and the United States were recruited by Qualtrics—a survey platform and project management company—to complete an online survey. The results from this study did not support the viability of the Westermarck hypothesis as a mechanism that facilitates incest avoidance for fathers. Physical proximity was not associated with incest propensity or disgust toward incest. Less disgust toward incest, however, was found to be associated with more incest propensity. These results indicate that physical proximity may not be a reliable kinship cue used by fathers to inform incest avoidance, but that disgust toward incest may still be a proximate mechanism that facilitates incest avoidance among fathers using kinship cues other than physical proximity.

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