TY - JOUR
T1 - A social network approach for the study of leprosy transmission beyond the household
AU - Kendall, Carl
AU - Kerr, Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo
AU - Miranda, Jose Garcia Vivas
AU - Rubin De Pinho, Suani Tavares
AU - Silva Andrade, Roberto Fernandes
AU - Rodrigues, Laura Cunha
AU - Frota, Cristiane Cunha
AU - Mota, Rosa Maria Salani
AU - De Almeida, Rosa Lívia Freitas
AU - Moreira, Fabio Brito
AU - Gomes, Raoni Boaventura Cruz
AU - Alves De Almeida, Naíla
AU - França, Lucas
AU - Pontes, Maria Araci De Andrade
AU - Gonçalves, Hector
AU - Penna, Gerson Oliveira
AU - Bührer-Sekula, Samira
AU - Klovdahl, Alden
AU - Barreto, Maurício Lima
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - Background: Mycobacterium leprae was the first microorganism directly associated with a disease, however, there are still important gaps in our understanding of transmission. Although household contacts are prioritized, there is evidence of the importance of extrahousehold contacts. The goal of this article is to contribute to our understanding of the transmission of leprosy ex-household. Methods: We compare co-location data of 397 leprosy cases and 211 controls drawn from the Centro de Dermatologia Sanitária D. Libânia in Fortaleza, Brazil. We collected lifetime geolocation data related to residence, school attendance and workplace and developed novel methods to establish a critical distance (Rc) for exposure and evaluated the potential for transmission for residence, school and workplace. Results: Our methods provide different threshold values of distance for residence, school and workplace. Residence networks demonstrate an Rc of about 500 m. Cases cluster in workplaces as well. Schools do not cluster cases. Conclusions: Our novel network approach offers a promising opportunity to explore leprosy transmission. Our networks confirm the importance of coresidence, provide a boundary and suggest a role for transmission in workplaces. Schools, on the other hand, do not demonstrate a clustering of cases. Our findings may have programmatic relevance.
AB - Background: Mycobacterium leprae was the first microorganism directly associated with a disease, however, there are still important gaps in our understanding of transmission. Although household contacts are prioritized, there is evidence of the importance of extrahousehold contacts. The goal of this article is to contribute to our understanding of the transmission of leprosy ex-household. Methods: We compare co-location data of 397 leprosy cases and 211 controls drawn from the Centro de Dermatologia Sanitária D. Libânia in Fortaleza, Brazil. We collected lifetime geolocation data related to residence, school attendance and workplace and developed novel methods to establish a critical distance (Rc) for exposure and evaluated the potential for transmission for residence, school and workplace. Results: Our methods provide different threshold values of distance for residence, school and workplace. Residence networks demonstrate an Rc of about 500 m. Cases cluster in workplaces as well. Schools do not cluster cases. Conclusions: Our novel network approach offers a promising opportunity to explore leprosy transmission. Our networks confirm the importance of coresidence, provide a boundary and suggest a role for transmission in workplaces. Schools, on the other hand, do not demonstrate a clustering of cases. Our findings may have programmatic relevance.
KW - Brazil
KW - Mycobacterium leprae
KW - Schools
KW - Social networking
KW - Workplace
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127391380&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/trstmh/trab071
DO - 10.1093/trstmh/trab071
M3 - Article
C2 - 34015825
AN - SCOPUS:85127391380
SN - 0035-9203
VL - 116
SP - 100
EP - 107
JO - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
JF - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
IS - 2
ER -