The contribution of social behaviour to the transmission of influenza A in a human population.

ABSTRACT: Variability in the risk of transmission for respiratory pathogens can result from several factors, including the intrinsic properties of the pathogen, the immune state of the host and the host's behaviour. It has been proposed that self-reported social mixing patterns can explain the behavioural component of this variability, with simulated intervention studies based on these data used routinely to inform public health policy. However, in the absence of robust studies with biological endpoints for individuals, it is unclear how age and social behaviour contribute to infection risk. To examine how the structure and nature of social contacts influenced infection risk over the course of a single epidemic, we designed a flexible disease modelling framework: the population was divided into a se

SUBMITTER: Kucharski AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4072802 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature