Social mixing patterns in rural and urban areas of southern China.
A dense population, global connectivity and frequent human-animal interaction give southern China an important role in the spread and emergence of infectious disease. However, patterns of person-to-person contact relevant to the spread of directly transmitted infections such as influenza remain poorly quantified in the region. We conducted a household-based survey of travel and contact patterns among urban and rural populations of Guangdong, China. We measured the character and distance from home of social encounters made by 1821 individuals. Most individuals reported 5-10 h of contact with around 10 individuals each day; however, both distributions have long tails. The distribution of distance from home at which contacts were made is similar: most were within a kilometre of the participant's home, while some occurred further than 500 km away. Compared with younger individuals, older individuals made fewer contacts which tended to be closer to home. There was strong assortativity in age-based contact rates. We found no difference between the total number or duration of contacts between urban and rural participants, but urban participants tended to make contacts closer to home. These results can improve mathematical models of infectious disease emergence, spread and control in southern China and throughout the region.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, , Leahurst Campus, Neston CH64 7TE, UK, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, , Baltimore, MD 21205, USA, School of Public Health, Imperial College, , London, UK, Guangzhou No. 12 Hospital, , Guangzhou, Guangdong 510620, People's Republic of China, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, , Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China, Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, , Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China, International Institute of Infection and Immunity, Shantou University Medical College, , Shantou, Guangdong 515031, People's Republic of China.
Jonathan M
JM
Read
Justin
J
Lessler
Steven
S
Riley
Shuying
S
Wang
Li Jiu
LJ
Tan
Kin On
KO
Kwok
Yi
Y
Guan
Chao Qiang
CQ
Jiang
Derek A T
DA
Cummings
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D014195:Travel; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
contact diary; infectious disease transmission; influenza; mathematical modelling; social mixing; travel