Trial reportPloS one2014
Household crowding, social mixing patterns and respiratory symptoms in seven countries of the African meningitis belt.
Trial report in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association of Diabetes with Meningitis Infection Risks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Global health, epidemiology and genomics · 2022Pooled it
- Household and community-based approaches to malaria and cholera prevention: A narrative review with case studies from Uganda and Mozambique.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Healthy homes: Stakeholder perspectives on housing interventions to reduce environmentally mediated infections.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Review
- Social Contact Patterns Associated With Tuberculosis: A Case-control Study in Southwest Iran.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2022Article
- Mapping local variation in household overcrowding across Africa from 2000 to 2018: a modelling study.The Lancet. Planetary health · 2022Article
- House design and risk of malaria, acute respiratory infection and gastrointestinal illness in Uganda: A cohort study.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Tuberculosis case notifications in Malawi have strong seasonal and weather-related trends.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Household crowding hampers mitigating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2021Article
- Urban informal settlements as hotspots of antimicrobial resistance and the need to curb environmental transmission.Nature microbiology · 2020Review
- Housing and child health in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-sectional analysis.PLoS medicine · 2020Observational
- Diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in Ghana: Polymerase chain reaction versus latex agglutination methods.PloS one · 2019Observational
- Environmental, economic and socio-cultural risk factors of recurrent seasonal epidemics of cerebrospinal meningitis in Kebbi state, northwestern Nigeria: a qualitative approach.BMC public health · 2018Article
- Social contact patterns of infants in deciding vaccination strategy: a prospective, cross-sectional, single-centre study.Epidemiology and infection · 2018Article
- Predicting the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine programme options in Vietnam.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2018Article
- A Seroepidemiological Study of Serogroup A Meningococcal Infection in the African Meningitis Belt.PloS one · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo describe the variation in household crowding and social mixing patterns in the African meningitis belt and to assess any association with self-reported recent respiratory symptoms.
methodsIn 2010, the African Meningococcal Carriage Consortium (MenAfriCar) conducted cross-sectional surveys in urban and rural areas of seven countries. The number of household members, rooms per household, attendance at social gatherings and meeting places were recorded. Associations with self-reported recent respiratory symptoms were analysed by univariate and multivariate regression models.
resultsThe geometric mean people per room ranged from 1.9 to 2.8 between Ghana and Ethiopia respectively. Attendance at different types of social gatherings was variable by country, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 per week. Those who attended 3 or more different types of social gatherings a week (frequent mixers) were more likely to be older, male (OR 1.27, p<0.001) and live in urban areas (OR 1.45, p<0.001). Frequent mixing and young age, but not increased household crowding, were associated with higher odds of self-reported respiratory symptoms (aOR 2.2, p<0.001 and OR 2.8, p<0.001 respectively). A limitation is that we did not measure school and workplace attendance.
conclusionThere are substantial variations in household crowding and social mixing patterns across the African meningitis belt. This study finds a clear association between age, increased social mixing and respiratory symptoms. It lays the foundation for designing and implementing more detailed studies of social contact patterns in this region.
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