Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19
Background: The social contact data for Japan as of 2022 showed a substantially decreased number of contacts compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether social contact continues to be depressed following the end of countermeasures against the pandemic. There is also sc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Infection and Public Health |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034124003630 |
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| author | Hwichang Jeong Sehyun Park June Young Chun Norio Ohmagari Yongdai Kim Shinya Tsuzuki |
| author_facet | Hwichang Jeong Sehyun Park June Young Chun Norio Ohmagari Yongdai Kim Shinya Tsuzuki |
| author_sort | Hwichang Jeong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The social contact data for Japan as of 2022 showed a substantially decreased number of contacts compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether social contact continues to be depressed following the end of countermeasures against the pandemic. There is also scarce evidence regarding the influence of influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) on social contacts in Japan. Therefore, this study examined whether the reduction in contact frequency during the pandemic was temporary or persists today and assessed the impact of ILIs on social mixing patterns. Methods: We conducted online questionnaire surveys of individuals who experienced symptoms of ILIs periodically from 2022 to 2024 to compare the number of contacts per day during and after their illnesses. Contact matrices were obtained from the survey data. The impacts of the timing of the survey and the ILIs were examined using negative binomial regression analysis. Results: Contact patterns were generally age-assortative, and the average contact numbers gradually increased from March 2022 to June 2024. Most recently, the median number of contacts per day during illness was 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 2–7) and then rose to 4.5 (IQR 2–11) after recovery. The earlier survey and ILIs showed a negative association with the frequency of social contacts. Conclusion: The frequency of social contacts in Japan tended to rise compared with that in 2021 but has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Individuals tended to decrease their contacts when they had symptoms caused by ILIs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8cda654bf934a4a80f8c0b91d7b2bc0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1876-0341 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Infection and Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8cda654bf934a4a80f8c0b91d7b2bc02025-01-21T04:12:56ZengElsevierJournal of Infection and Public Health1876-03412025-02-01182102629Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19Hwichang Jeong0Sehyun Park1June Young Chun2Norio Ohmagari3Yongdai Kim4Shinya Tsuzuki5Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South KoreaDepartment of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South KoreaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Internal Medicine, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South KoreaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South KoreaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Correspondence to: Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan.Background: The social contact data for Japan as of 2022 showed a substantially decreased number of contacts compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether social contact continues to be depressed following the end of countermeasures against the pandemic. There is also scarce evidence regarding the influence of influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) on social contacts in Japan. Therefore, this study examined whether the reduction in contact frequency during the pandemic was temporary or persists today and assessed the impact of ILIs on social mixing patterns. Methods: We conducted online questionnaire surveys of individuals who experienced symptoms of ILIs periodically from 2022 to 2024 to compare the number of contacts per day during and after their illnesses. Contact matrices were obtained from the survey data. The impacts of the timing of the survey and the ILIs were examined using negative binomial regression analysis. Results: Contact patterns were generally age-assortative, and the average contact numbers gradually increased from March 2022 to June 2024. Most recently, the median number of contacts per day during illness was 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 2–7) and then rose to 4.5 (IQR 2–11) after recovery. The earlier survey and ILIs showed a negative association with the frequency of social contacts. Conclusion: The frequency of social contacts in Japan tended to rise compared with that in 2021 but has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Individuals tended to decrease their contacts when they had symptoms caused by ILIs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034124003630Social contactCOVID-19JapanInfluenza-like illnessesBehavioural change |
| spellingShingle | Hwichang Jeong Sehyun Park June Young Chun Norio Ohmagari Yongdai Kim Shinya Tsuzuki Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 Journal of Infection and Public Health Social contact COVID-19 Japan Influenza-like illnesses Behavioural change |
| title | Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 |
| title_full | Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 |
| title_short | Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19 |
| title_sort | chronological trend of social contact patterns in japan after the emergence of covid 19 |
| topic | Social contact COVID-19 Japan Influenza-like illnesses Behavioural change |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034124003630 |
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