ArticlePloS one2021
Social, economic, and environmental factors influencing the basic reproduction number of COVID-19 across countries.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of temperature and humidity on SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- The pitfalls of incidence-based time series regression for inferring the effects of weather on infectious diseases.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- SEIRV epidemiological model for COVID 19 with Holling type II functional response.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Global transmission characteristics of mpox outbreaks: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension Among COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study Exploring Associations With Sociodemographic and Biological Factors in Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Spectral study of COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: The dependence of spectral gradient on the population size of the community.PloS one · 2025Article
- Disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socially vulnerable communities: the case of Jane and Finch in Toronto, Ontario.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Examining the paradox: increased malaria risk in children under 5 in female-headed households in Nigeria.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Demographic study of patients' mortality rate before and after the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Spatio-temporal epidemiology and associated indicators of COVID-19 (wave-I and II) in India.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Risk perceptions and behaviors concerning rural tourism and economic-political drivers of COVID-19 policy in 2020.PloS one · 2024Article
- Analysis of factors associated with admission to the intensive care unit of children and adolescents with COVID-19: application of a multilevel model.Critical care science · 2024Article
- Population infection estimation from wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Nagpur, India during the second pandemic wave.PloS one · 2024Article
- Estimation of epidemiological parameters and ascertainment rate from early transmission of COVID-19 across Africa.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- A global perspective on the intrinsic dimensionality of COVID-19 data.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Associations between institutional-social-ecological factors and COVID -19 case-fatality: Evidence from 134 countries using multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR).One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2023Article
- Physical distancing versus testing with self-isolation for controlling an emerging epidemic.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Big data- and artificial intelligence-based hot-spot analysis of COVID-19: Gauteng, South Africa, as a case study.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2023Article
- Article
- Determinants of differences in RT-PCR testing rates among Southeast Asian countries during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether the basic reproduction number (R0) of COVID-19 is different across countries and what national-level demographic, social, and environmental factors other than interventions characterize initial vulnerability to the virus.
methodsWe fit logistic growth curves to reported daily case numbers, up to the first epidemic peak, for 58 countries for which 16 explanatory covariates are available. This fitting has been shown to robustly estimate R0 from the specified period. We then use a generalized additive model (GAM) to discern both linear and nonlinear effects, and include 5 random effect covariates to account for potential differences in testing and reporting that can bias the estimated R0.
findingsWe found that the mean R0 is 1.70 (S.D. 0.57), with a range between 1.10 (Ghana) and 3.52 (South Korea). We identified four factors-population between 20-34 years old (youth), population residing in urban agglomerates over 1 million (city), social media use to organize offline action (social media), and GINI income inequality-as having strong relationships with R0, across countries. An intermediate level of youth and GINI inequality are associated with high R0, (n-shape relationships), while high city population and high social media use are associated with high R0. Pollution, temperature, and humidity did not have strong relationships with R0 but were positive.
conclusionCountries have different characteristics that predispose them to greater intrinsic vulnerability to COVID-19. Studies that aim to measure the effectiveness of interventions across locations should account for these baseline differences in social and demographic characteristics.
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