title: Social network analysis of food sharing among households in opisthorchiasis endemic villages of Lawa Lake, Thailand.
abstract: Consumption of raw fish is a well-documented risk factor for Opisthorchis viverrini infection. Sharing of food, especially raw fish recipes may influence the spread of disease through a community. Using social network analysis of an ego network, we investigated food sharing among households in an Opisthorchis-endemic area. Network centrality properties were used to explain the differences in O. viverrini transmission and control between villages with a low and high prevalence of infection. Information on demography and O. viverrini infection in 2008 from villagers in the Lawa Lake area was extracted from the Tropical Disease Research Center database. The two villages that had the lowest and the highest O. viverrini infection at the household level were recruited. Ten percent of households of each village were randomly sampled. Participatory epidemiology and face-to-face structured interviews guided by a social network questionnaire were used to collect data on livelihood, agricultural patterns, food sources, raw fish eating habits, and other food sharing during daily life and social gatherings. The number of contacts including in-degree and out-degree varied from 0 to 7 in the low-infection village and 0 to 4 in the high-infection village. The mean number of contacts for the food-sharing network among the low- and high-infection villages was 1.64 and 0.73 contacts per household, respectively. Between these villages, the mean number of out-degree (p=0.0125), but not in-degree (p=0.065), was significantly different. Food-sharing differed in numbers of sharing-in and sharing-out between the two villages. Network analysis of food sharing may be of value in designing strategies for opisthorchiasis control at the community level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. Electronic address: fvetwrp@ku.ac.th.
authors.forename: Waraphon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Phimpraphai
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand; WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis (Southeast Asian Liver Fluke Disease)/Tropical Disease Research Center (TDRC), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
authors.forename: Sirikachorn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tangkawattana
authors.affiliation: Graduate School, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
authors.forename: Piya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sereerak
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
authors.forename: Suwicha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasemsuwan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand; WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis (Southeast Asian Liver Fluke Disease)/Tropical Disease Research Center (TDRC), Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand. Electronic address: banchob@kku.ac.th.
authors.forename: Banchob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sripa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology; D005523:Food Supply / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D060106:Lakes; D008297:Male; D009889:Opisthorchiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D009891:Opisthorchis / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Ego network; Food sharing; Opisthorchis viverrini; Pattern; Social network analysis