The importance of community during rapid development: The influence of social networks on acute gastrointestinal illness in rural Ecuador.

ABSTRACT: Social networks are often measured as conduits of infection. Our prior cross-sectional analyses found that denser social ties among individuals reduces transmission of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in coastal Ecuador; social networks can describe both risk and protection. We extend findings to examine how social connectedness influences AGI longitudinally in Ecuador from 2007 to 2013, a time of rapid development, using a two-stage Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate multiple network effects. A larger community network of people to discuss important matters with was consistently protective against AGI over time, and a network defined by people passing time together became a stronger measure of risk, due to increasing population density and travel. These networks were interdepende

SUBMITTER: Hegde ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9251719 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature