title: The French Connection: The First Large Population-Based Contact Survey in France Relevant for the Spread of Infectious Diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Empirical social contact patterns are essential to understand the spread of infectious diseases. To date, no such data existed for France. Although infectious diseases are frequently seasonal, the temporal variation of contact patterns has not been documented hitherto.
  
  
  METHODS
  COMES-F is the first French large-scale population survey, carried out over 3 different periods (February-March, April, April-May) with some participants common to the first and the last period. Participants described their contacts for 2 consecutive days, and reported separately on professional contacts when typically over 20 per day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  2033 participants reported 38 881 contacts (weighted median [first quartile-third quartile]: 8[5-14] per day), and 54 378 contacts with supplementary professional contacts (9[5-17]). Contrary to age, gender, household size, holidays, weekend and occupation, period of the year had little influence on the number of contacts or the mixing patterns. Contact patterns were highly assortative with age, irrespective of the location of the contact, and gender, with women having 8% more contacts than men. Although most contacts occurred at home and at school, the inclusion of professional contacts modified the structure of the mixing patterns. Holidays and weekends reduced dramatically the number of contacts, and as proxies for school closure, reduced R0 by 33% and 28%, respectively. Thus, school closures could have an important impact on the spread of close contact infections in France.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite no clear evidence for temporal variation, trends suggest that more studies are needed. Age and gender were found important determinants of the mixing patterns. Gender differences in mixing patterns might help explain gender differences in the epidemiology of infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: Médecine Interne et Maladies Infectieuses, Centre Hospitalier de Poitiers, Poitiers, France; EA2694, Université Droit et Santé Lille 2, Lille, France; Interuniversity Institute for Biostatistics and statistical Bioinformatics, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Béraud
authors.affiliation: CRESGE, Université Catholique de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kazmercziak
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics Research & Modeling Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beutels
authors.affiliation: Département des maladies infectieuses, InVS, Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levy-Bruhl
authors.affiliation: Département d'information médicale, Université de Lille Nord de France, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lenne
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France; INSERM U1019, Lille, France; CNRS UMR8204, Lille, France; Université Lille-Nord de France, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mielcarek
authors.affiliation: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et tropicales, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Yazdan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yazdanpanah
authors.affiliation: UMR-S 707, INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Boëlle
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Institute for Biostatistics and statistical Bioinformatics, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; Centre for Health Economics Research & Modeling Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.
authors.forename: Niel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hens
authors.affiliation: EA2694, Université Droit et Santé Lille 2, Lille, France; DRCI, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dervaux
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006693:Holidays; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult