Quantification of droplet and contact transmission risks among elementary school students based on network analyses using video-recorded data

Elementary schools are environments in which immunologically immature students come into close contact with each other and are susceptible to the spread of infectious diseases. Analyzing the behavior of multiple students has been challenging, and the relationship between infections remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the relevance between droplet and contact transmission and the behavior of elementary school students using video-recorded data, network analyses, and simulations. The analysis of communication behavior revealed the diverse nature of interactions among students. By calculating the droplet transmission probabilities based on conversation duration, this study quantified the risk of droplet transmission in elementary schools. The analysis of contact behavior introduces a novel approach for constructing contact networks based on contact history. According to this method, items such as desks, shirts, and doors have the potential to be used as fomites for virus transmission. In addition, the reliability of the predictions was demonstrated through micro-simulations. Interestingly, the micro-simulations indicated that the majority of virus copies were transmitted through single items, emphasizing the importance of targeted hygiene measures. This study contributes significantly to the prevention of infectious diseases in elementary schools by providing evidence-based information on transmission pathways and behavior-related risks. Moreover, the insights from this study can guide the development of simulation models for analyzing infection risks in educational settings.

• Publication year

  2024

• Venue

  medRxiv

• Publication date

  2024-10-27

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Education, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0313364PMID 39937726PMCID 11819611
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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