ArticleBMC infectious diseases2021
Impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and related social distancing regulations on social contact and SARS-CoV-2 transmission potential in rural South Africa: analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Knowledge and Practice of Personal Protective Measures Against COVID-19 in Africa: Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Towards ending tuberculosis in South Africa: an uncertainty analysis of the programmes and factors most critical to future declines.Global health action · 2026Article
- Social contact patterns and associated factors survey of Shangrao City.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Contact behaviour before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands: evidence from contact surveys, 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Article
- Controlling the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi: Results from a multi-round study.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Contact patterns of older adults with and without frailty in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Dynamics of non-household contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 in the Netherlands.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Characterising social contacts under COVID-19 control measures in Africa.BMC medicine · 2022Article
- Estimating the contribution of transmission in primary healthcare clinics to community-wide TB disease incidence, and the impact of infection prevention and control interventions, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Performance Evaluation of Lateral Flow Assays for Coronavirus Disease-19 Serology.Clinics in laboratory medicine · 2022Review
- Literature Review of Omicron: A Grim Reality Amidst COVID-19.Microorganisms · 2022Review
- The impact of COVID-19 on TB: a review of the data.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2021Review
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14 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundSouth Africa implemented rapid and strict physical distancing regulations to minimize SARS-CoV-2 epidemic spread. Evidence on the impact of such measures on interpersonal contact in rural and lower-income settings is limited.
methodsWe compared population-representative social contact surveys conducted in the same rural KwaZulu-Natal location once in 2019 and twice in mid-2020. Respondents reported characteristics of physical and conversational ('close interaction') contacts over 24 hours. We built age-mixing matrices and estimated the proportional change in the SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number (R
resultsRespondents in March-December 2019 (n = 1704) reported a mean of 7.4 close interaction contacts and 196 shared air person-hours beyond their homes. Respondents in June-July 2020 (n = 216), as the epidemic peaked locally, reported 4.1 close interaction contacts and 21 shared air person-hours outside their home, with significant declines in others' homes and public spaces. Adults aged over 50 had fewer close contacts with others over 50, but little change in contact with 15-29 year olds, reflecting ongoing contact within multigenerational households. We estimate potential R
conclusionsExtra-household social contact fell substantially following imposition of Covid-19 distancing regulations in rural South Africa. Ongoing contact within intergenerational households highlighted a potential limitation of social distancing measures in protecting older adults.
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