Social Contact Networks and Mixing among Students in K-12 Schools in Pittsburgh, PA.

ABSTRACT: Students attending schools play an important role in the transmission of influenza. In this study, we present a social network analysis of contacts among 1,828 students in eight different schools in urban and suburban areas in and near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, including elementary, elementary-middle, middle, and high schools. We collected social contact information of students who wore wireless sensor devices that regularly recorded other devices if they are within a distance of 3 meters. We analyzed these networks to identify patterns of proximal student interactions in different classes and grades, to describe community structure within the schools, and to assess the impact of the physical environment of schools on proximal contacts. In the elementary and middl

SUBMITTER: Guclu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4792376 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature