Social contacts patterns relevant to the transmission of infectious diseases in Suzhou, China following the COVID-19 epidemic.
J Health Popul Nutr
; 43(1): 58, 2024 May 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38725055
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected human social contact patterns, but there is limited understanding regarding the post-pandemic social contact patterns. Our objective is to quantitatively assess social contact patterns in Suzhou post-COVID-19.METHODS:
We employed a diary design and conducted social contact surveys from June to October 2023, utilizing paper questionnaires. A generalized linear model was utilized to analyze the relationship between individual contacts and covariates. We examined the proportions of contact type, location, duration, and frequency. Additionally, age-related mixed matrices were established.RESULTS:
The participants reported an average of 11.51 (SD 5.96) contact numbers and a total of 19.78 (SD 20.94) contact numbers per day, respectively. The number of contacts was significantly associated with age, household size, and the type of week. Compared to the 0-9 age group, those in the 10-19 age group reported a higher number of contacts (IRR = 1.12, CI 1.01-1.24), while participants aged 20 and older reported fewer (IRR range 0.54-0.67). Larger households (5 or more) reported more contacts (IRR = 1.09, CI 1.01-1.18) and fewer contacts were reported on weekends (IRR = 0.95, CI 0.90-0.99). School had the highest proportion of contact durations exceeding 4 h (49.5%) and daily frequencies (90.4%), followed by home and workplace. The contact patterns exhibited clear age-assortative mixing, with Q indices of 0.27 and 0.28.CONCLUSIONS:
We assessed the characteristics of social contact patterns in Suzhou, which are essential for parameterizing models of infectious disease transmission. The high frequency and intensity of contacts among school-aged children should be given special attention, making school intervention policies a crucial component in controlling infectious disease transmission.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
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Infant
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
J Health Popul Nutr
/
J. health popul. nutr
/
Journal of health, population, and nutrition
Journal subject:
CIENCIAS DA NUTRICAO
/
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Bangladesh