| Transmission of infectious pathogens across networks is well-documented, yet remains primarily focused on diseases spread by sexual contact. Such analytical tools, however, may also facilitate understanding of how other types of health outcomes are related to physical and social contacts. This research examines the relationship between cholera incidence and the social network that links households in rural Bangladesh. Using twenty-one years of longitudinal demographic and health data, clustering of similar disease rates in the network was measured and compared to spatial autocorrelation of cholera at the neighborhood level. Results indicate that rates are significantly concentrated amongst households within the same local environment, and that social clustering is only evident during certain years examined. These outcomes suggest that intervention efforts should place priority on identifying local-level environmental factors, but also consider the potential of networks as they assist transmission, as well as their role in interactions within a defined neighborhood. |
