In South Asia, the burden of infectious diseases is high.
Socioeconomically and culturally-defined social interaction patterns
are considered to be an important determinant in the spread of diseases
that are transmitted through person-to-person contact. Understanding of
the contact patterns in this region can be helpful to develop more
effective control measures. Focus group discussions were used in
exploring social contact patterns in northwest Bangladesh. The patterns
were assessed for perceived relevance to the spread of airborne
infectious diseases, with special focus on diseases, like leprosy and
tuberculosis, in which the role of social determinants is
well-recognized. Highly-relevant social contact patterns inside the
home and the neighbourhood, across age and sex groups, were reported in
all group discussions. Outside the home, women and girls reported
relevant contacts limited to the close neighbourhood while men
mentioned high relevant contacts beyond. This implies that, in theory,
infectious diseases can easily be transmitted across age and sex groups
in and around the home. Adult men might play a role in the transmission
of airborne infectious diseases from outside this confined area since
only this group reported highly-relevant social contacts beyond the
home. This concept needs further exploration but control programmes in
the South Asian region could benefit from considering differences in
social contact patterns by gender for risk assessments and planning of
preventive interventions