Analyzing Midwest Social Contact Patterns

MADMC’s social contact survey will provide data to better inform public health responses to disease outbreaks in the Midwest. Social contact data provide information on how people interact with others and can be useful for understanding how infectious diseases spread.This data can be used in infectious disease models to provide decision makers with estimates of disease burden, including expected number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths under different disease scenarios or public health interventions. Currently, there is only social contact data available from Europe or at a national level in the U.S.

Our Work

MADMC will conduct four waves of a Midwest-focused social contact survey, staggered to capture potential seasonal changes in person-to-person contact patterns. The survey will be used to understand differences in contact patterns by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and rural/urban location. By comparing our results to findings from other Insight Net center surveys, we will determine how Midwestern contact patterns do or do not differ from other US regions. The survey will also include questions about individual willingness and ability to adopt protective measures that may be recommended in a future pandemic. Results will be used to inform disease transmission inputs in MADMC’s Infectious Disease Modeling Platform.