Identifying human encounters that shape the transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other acute respiratory infections

Publication date: Available online 19 May 2018Source: EpidemicsAuthor(s): Olivier le Polain de Waroux, Stefan Flasche, Adam J Kucharski, Celine Langendorf, Donny Ndazima, Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire, Rebecca F Grais, Sandra Cohuet, W John EdmundsAbstractAlthough patterns of social contacts are believed to be an important determinant of infectious disease transmission, it remains unclear how the frequency and nature of human interactions shape an individual’s risk of infection. We analysed data on daily social encounters individually matched to data on S. pneumoniae carriage and acute respiratory symptoms (ARS), from 566 individuals who took part in a survey in South-West Uganda. We found that the frequency of physical (i.e. skin-to-skin), long (≥1 h) and household contacts – which capture some measure of close (i.e. relatively intimate) contact – was higher among pneumococcal carriers than non-carriers, and among people with ARS compared to those without, irrespective of their age. With each additional physical encounter the age-adjusted risk of carriage and ARS increased by 6% (95%CI 2-9%) and 7% (2-13%) respectively. In contrast, the number of casual contacts (<5 minutes long) was not associated with either pneumococcal carriage or ARS. A detailed analysis by age of contacts showed that the number of close contacts with young children (<5 years) was particularly higher among older children and adult carriers than non-carriers, while the higher number of co...

Source: Epidemics - July 5, 2018 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research