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Comparative Study
. 2011 Mar;17(2):490-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.12.004. Epub 2010 Dec 13.

A comparison of spatial and social clustering of cholera in Matlab, Bangladesh

Sophia Giebultowicz  1 , Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Yunus, Michael Emch
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A comparison of spatial and social clustering of cholera in Matlab, Bangladesh

Sophia Giebultowicz et al. Health Place. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Infectious diseases often cluster spatially, but can also cluster socially because they are transmitted within social networks. This study compares spatial and social clustering of cholera in rural Bangladesh. Data include a spatially referenced longitudinal demographic database, which consists of approximately 200,000 people and laboratory-confirmed cholera cases from 1983 to 2003. Matrices are created of kinship ties between households using a complete network design and distance matrices are also created to model spatial relationships. Moran's I statistics are calculated to measure clustering within both social and spatial matrices. The results show that cholera always clusters in space and seldom within social networks. Cholera is transmitted mostly through the local environment rather than through person-to-person contact. Comparing spatial and social network analysis can help improve understanding of disease transmission.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study area map
Figure 2
Figure 2. Significance of spatial clustering of cholera rates and change in cholera rates, 500-meter neighborhoods
Figure 3
Figure 3. Significance of spatial clustering of cholera rates and change in cholera rates, 1000-meter neighborhoods
Figure 4
Figure 4. Significance of spatial clustering of cholera rates and change in cholera rates, 2000-meter neighborhoods
Figure 5
Figure 5. Significance of social clustering of cholera rates and change in cholera rates
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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