Jolly A M, Muth S Q, Wylie J L, Potterat J J
The Division of STD Prevention and Control, Laboratory Centres for Disease Control, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
J Urban Health. 2001 Sep;78(3):433-45. doi: 10.1093/jurban/78.3.433.
Research on risk behaviors for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has revealed that they seldom correspond with actual risk of infection. Core groups of people with high-risk behavior who form networks of people linked by sexual contact are essential for STI transmission, but have been overlooked in epidemiological studies. Social network analysis, a subdiscipline of sociology, provides both the methods and analytical techniques to describe and illustrate the effects of sexual networks on STI transmission. Sexual networks of people from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, infected with chlamydia during a 6-month period were compared. In Winnipeg, 442 networks were identified, comprising 571 cases and 663 contacts, ranging in size from 2 to 20 individuals; Colorado Springs data yielded 401 networks, comprising 468 cases and 700 contacts, ranging in size from 2 to 12 individuals. Taking differing partner notification methods and the slightly smaller population size in Colorado Springs into account, the networks from both places were similar in both size and structure. These smaller, sparsely linked networks, peripheral to the core, may form the mechanism by which chlamydia can remain endemic, in contrast with larger, more densely connected networks, closer to the core, which are associated with steep rises in incidence.
对性传播感染（STIs）风险行为的研究表明，这些行为很少与实际感染风险相符。高危行为人群的核心群体通过性接触形成人际网络，他们对于性传播感染的传播至关重要，但在流行病学研究中却被忽视了。社会网络分析作为社会学的一个分支学科，提供了描述和阐释性网络对性传播感染传播影响的方法和分析技术。对科罗拉多州科罗拉多斯普林斯市以及加拿大曼尼托巴省温尼伯市在6个月内感染衣原体的人群的性网络进行了比较。在温尼伯市，识别出442个网络，包括571个病例和663个接触者，网络规模从2人到20人不等；科罗拉多斯普林斯市的数据产生了401个网络，包括468个病例和700个接触者，网络规模从2人到12人不等。考虑到不同的性伴通知方法以及科罗拉多斯普林斯市略小的人口规模，两地的网络在规模和结构上相似。与更接近核心、联系更紧密且与发病率急剧上升相关的较大网络相比，这些较小、联系稀疏且位于核心外围的网络可能构成衣原体持续流行的机制。
