Quantifying heterogeneous contact patterns in Japan: a social contact survey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social contact surveys can greatly help in quantifying the heterogeneous patterns of infectious disease transmission. The present study aimed to conduct a contact survey in Japan, offering estimates of contact by age and location and validating a social contact matrix using a seroepidemiological dataset of influenza.

Methods

An internet-based questionnaire survey was conducted, covering all 47 prefectures in Japan and including a total of 1476 households. The social contact matrix was quantified assuming reciprocity and using the maximum likelihood method. By imposing several parametric assumptions for the next-generation matrix, the empirical seroepidemiological data of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 was analysed and we estimated the basic reproduction number, R_0</

SUBMITTER: Munasinghe L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6425701 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature