Citation
Giebultowicz, Sophia; Ali, Mohammad; Yunus, Mohammad; & Emch, Michael E. (2011). The Simultaneous Effects of Spatial and Social Networks on Cholera Transmission. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases, 2011, 604372. PMCID: PMC3236480Abstract
This study uses social network and spatial analytical methods simultaneously to understand cholera transmission in rural Bangladesh. Both have been used separately to incorporate context into health studies, but using them together is a new and recent approach. Data include a spatially referenced longitudinal demographic database consisting of approximately 200,000 people and a database of all laboratory-confirmed cholera cases from 1983 to 2003. A complete kinship-based network linking households is created, and distance matrices are also constructed to model spatial relationships. A spatial error-social effects model tested for cholera clustering in socially linked households while accounting for spatial factors. Results show that there was social clustering in five out of twenty-one years while accounting for both known and unknown environmental variables. This suggests that environmental cholera transmission is significant and social networks also influence transmission, but not as consistently. Simultaneous spatial and social network analysis may improve understanding of disease transmission.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/604372Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2011Journal Title
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious DiseasesAuthor(s)
Giebultowicz, SophiaAli, Mohammad
Yunus, Mohammad
Emch, Michael E.