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Medicine

Social Network Analysis for Mapping Disease Transmission Chains

Quick fact

Social network analysis can reconstruct the transmission chain of a disease like tuberculosis by comparing the genetic fingerprints of the bacteria from different patients. If two patients share the same strain, they are likely connected in the transmission network.

Why this is interesting

Imagine a disease spreading through a community. It might not spread from one person to all others equally—it spreads along the network of who meets whom. But how can we map those hidden chains of transmission to stop the outbreak quickly?