Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.

<h4>Background</h4>The spread of infectious diseases from person to person is determined by the frequency and nature of contacts between infected and susceptible members of the population. Although there is a long history of using mathematical models to understand these transmission dyna...

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Main Authors: Peter Horby, Quang Thai Pham, Niel Hens, Thi Thu Yen Nguyen, Quynh Mai Le, Dinh Thoang Dang, Manh Linh Nguyen, Thu Huong Nguyen, Neal Alexander, W John Edmunds, Nhu Duong Tran, Annette Fox, Tran Hien Nguyen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-02-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016965&type=printable
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author Peter Horby
Quang Thai Pham
Niel Hens
Thi Thu Yen Nguyen
Quynh Mai Le
Dinh Thoang Dang
Manh Linh Nguyen
Thu Huong Nguyen
Neal Alexander
W John Edmunds
Nhu Duong Tran
Annette Fox
Tran Hien Nguyen
author_facet Peter Horby
Quang Thai Pham
Niel Hens
Thi Thu Yen Nguyen
Quynh Mai Le
Dinh Thoang Dang
Manh Linh Nguyen
Thu Huong Nguyen
Neal Alexander
W John Edmunds
Nhu Duong Tran
Annette Fox
Tran Hien Nguyen
author_sort Peter Horby
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>The spread of infectious diseases from person to person is determined by the frequency and nature of contacts between infected and susceptible members of the population. Although there is a long history of using mathematical models to understand these transmission dynamics, there are still remarkably little empirical data on contact behaviors with which to parameterize these models. Even starker is the almost complete absence of data from developing countries. We sought to address this knowledge gap by conducting a household based social contact diary in rural Vietnam.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>A diary based survey of social contact patterns was conducted in a household-structured community cohort in North Vietnam in 2007. We used generalized estimating equations to model the number of contacts while taking into account the household sampling design, and used weighting to balance the household size and age distribution towards the Vietnamese population. We recorded 6675 contacts from 865 participants in 264 different households and found that mixing patterns were assortative by age but were more homogenous than observed in a recent European study. We also observed that physical contacts were more concentrated in the home setting in Vietnam than in Europe but the overall level of physical contact was lower. A model of individual versus household vaccination strategies revealed no difference between strategies in the impact on R(0).<h4>Conclusions and significance</h4>This work is the first to estimate contact patterns relevant to the spread of infections transmitted from person to person by non-sexual routes in a developing country setting. The results show interesting similarities and differences from European data and demonstrate the importance of context specific data.
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spelling doaj-art-c962cdc8dc7f43838a584e2f42f01ccc2025-08-20T03:45:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-02-0162e1696510.1371/journal.pone.0016965Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.Peter HorbyQuang Thai PhamNiel HensThi Thu Yen NguyenQuynh Mai LeDinh Thoang DangManh Linh NguyenThu Huong NguyenNeal AlexanderW John EdmundsNhu Duong TranAnnette FoxTran Hien Nguyen<h4>Background</h4>The spread of infectious diseases from person to person is determined by the frequency and nature of contacts between infected and susceptible members of the population. Although there is a long history of using mathematical models to understand these transmission dynamics, there are still remarkably little empirical data on contact behaviors with which to parameterize these models. Even starker is the almost complete absence of data from developing countries. We sought to address this knowledge gap by conducting a household based social contact diary in rural Vietnam.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>A diary based survey of social contact patterns was conducted in a household-structured community cohort in North Vietnam in 2007. We used generalized estimating equations to model the number of contacts while taking into account the household sampling design, and used weighting to balance the household size and age distribution towards the Vietnamese population. We recorded 6675 contacts from 865 participants in 264 different households and found that mixing patterns were assortative by age but were more homogenous than observed in a recent European study. We also observed that physical contacts were more concentrated in the home setting in Vietnam than in Europe but the overall level of physical contact was lower. A model of individual versus household vaccination strategies revealed no difference between strategies in the impact on R(0).<h4>Conclusions and significance</h4>This work is the first to estimate contact patterns relevant to the spread of infections transmitted from person to person by non-sexual routes in a developing country setting. The results show interesting similarities and differences from European data and demonstrate the importance of context specific data.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016965&type=printable
spellingShingle Peter Horby
Quang Thai Pham
Niel Hens
Thi Thu Yen Nguyen
Quynh Mai Le
Dinh Thoang Dang
Manh Linh Nguyen
Thu Huong Nguyen
Neal Alexander
W John Edmunds
Nhu Duong Tran
Annette Fox
Tran Hien Nguyen
Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
PLoS ONE
title Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
title_full Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
title_fullStr Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
title_full_unstemmed Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
title_short Social contact patterns in Vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases.
title_sort social contact patterns in vietnam and implications for the control of infectious diseases
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016965&type=printable
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