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A Murine Model of Dengue Virus-induced Acute Viral Encephalitis-like Disease
Published on: April 28, 2019
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Dengue illness impacts daily human mobility patterns in Iquitos, Peru
Kathryn L Schaber1, Valerie A Paz-Soldan2, Amy C Morrison3
1Program of Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases
|September 24, 2019
Summary
During symptomatic dengue virus (DENV) infection, individuals significantly reduce their travel and spend more time at home, especially in the first three days. Mobility returns to normal levels within a week, highlighting the importance of tracking movement during illness.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Infectious Disease Dynamics
- Human Mobility Research
Background:
- Human mobility is crucial for pathogen transmission, influencing contact patterns.
- Symptomatic infections can alter mobility, impacting disease spread.
- Understanding mobility changes during infectiousness is key for diseases like dengue virus (DENV).
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify human movement patterns during symptomatic dengue virus infection.
- To assess the relationship between symptom severity, infectiousness, and mobility.
- To improve models of DENV transmission dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Community-based febrile surveillance and RT-PCR assays identified dengue-positive individuals in Iquitos, Peru.
- Retrospective interviews collected daily mobility data during illness and compared it to healthy baseline.
- Statistical tests (Wilcoxon) analyzed changes in location visits and time spent at home.
Main Results:
- Mobility significantly decreased, with fewer locations visited (p=0.017) and more time spent at home (p=0.005) during the first three days of illness.
- Mobility patterns returned to pre-illness levels by 7-9 days after symptom onset.
- Day of illness and subjective well-being were key predictors of daily mobility.
Conclusions:
- This study provides novel daily-scale human mobility data during symptomatic infection.
- Accounting for altered mobility during illness is essential for accurate DENV transmission modeling.
- Findings enhance the interpretation of public health surveillance data for infectious diseases.
