Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, ACT 2601, Canberra, Australia.
Children's Health and Environment Program, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, 4101 QLD, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2018 Jun 28;8(1):10136. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-28081-x.
Population mobility has been demonstrated to contribute to the persistent transmission and global diffusion of epidemics. In the Pacific Islands, population mobility is particularly important for emerging infectious diseases, disease elimination programs, and diseases spread by close contact. The extent of population mobility between American Samoa villages, Samoa districts and other countries was investigated based on travel data collected during community surveys in American Samoa in 2010 and 2014. Within American Samoa, workers commuted daily across the whole of the main island of Tutuila, with work hubs drawing from villages across the island. Of the 670 adult workers surveyed, 37% had traveled overseas in the past year, with 68% of trips to Samoa. Of children aged 8-13 years (n = 337), 57% had traveled overseas, with 55% of trips to Samoa. An extensive network of connections between American Samoa villages and Samoa districts was demonstrated, with most trips lasting one week to one month. Our study showed that populations in the Samoan islands are highly mobile, and quantified the extent and destinations of their travels. Our findings offer insight into the impact of population mobility on the transmission of infectious diseases and data to refine existing models of disease transmission in the Pacific islands.
人口流动已被证明是导致传染病持续传播和全球扩散的一个重要因素。在太平洋岛屿地区，人口流动对于新发传染病、疾病消除计划以及通过密切接触传播的疾病尤为重要。本研究基于 2010 年和 2014 年在美属萨摩亚社区调查中收集的旅行数据，调查了美属萨摩亚村庄、萨摩亚地区和其他国家之间人口流动的程度。在美属萨摩亚，工人每天都要在图图伊拉主岛各地通勤，工作中心的人员来自全岛各地的村庄。在所调查的 670 名成年工人中，37%的人在过去一年中有过出国旅行，其中 68%的人前往萨摩亚。在 8-13 岁的儿童中（n=337），有 57%的人有过出国旅行，其中 55%的人前往萨摩亚。本研究显示，美属萨摩亚和萨摩亚地区之间存在着广泛的联系网络，大多数旅行持续一周到一个月。我们的研究表明，萨摩亚群岛上的人口流动性很强，并量化了他们旅行的程度和目的地。我们的研究结果提供了关于人口流动对传染病传播的影响的深入了解，并为完善太平洋岛屿地区疾病传播的现有模型提供了数据。
