Journal of infectious diseases and diagnosis is an open access rapid peer reviewed journal in the field of Bacterial, Viral and Fungal Diseases. It is a bimonthly journal.

An assessment of how social grouping methods may minimize or promote the spread of disease is crucial for the health of large groups of people when looking at sociality and disease transmission. Different tactics and practices to minimize disease spread are influenced by social groups, community structures, and cultures. Groups of animals and humans that live in places with high population density have an increased risk of disease prevalence.

Large gatherings can assist limit illness spread by having access to clean, uncontaminated water and food. Another strategy for groups to stop sickness from spreading is to prevent contact with sick people in the community.

Community structures of social animals and implications for contagious infections

Griffin and Nunn's article on community structure simulated the introduction of a pathogen into various group structures and communities. Ultimately, "increased modularity mediates the elevated risk of parasitism associated with living in larger groups". Such structures are composed of nodes that may represent an individual or a unit of individuals in a group who have ties to other nodes. If the community structure is strong, the eigenvector i.e, pathogen will experience a dying-out effect.

In geometrical structures of communities, a point represents a node, and a line between two nodes represents a social tie or interaction. In certain structures, the eigenvector may pass from one group to another, but the chances are limited.

Human social groups and disease implications

Invasion by a pathogen in any community, human or otherwise, requires a two-step process. First, there must be importation of the pathogen by means of migration. This may occur through a traveling node, or a vector, or may occur when an entire community relocates. Second, the number of infections must rise due to the social contacts within that population.

For humans, this process can appear extremely chaotic. "Local public sites with extremely high population density such as train stations, or large social, political, or religious mass gatherings are regarded as high-risk". An exceptionally important note to make here is that these heavily dense situations involve mainly strangers, as opposed to close social contacts that operate in a structured network. Especially with respect to modern technological advances that allow us to do such things as pass over enormous geological features, it would appear we are ripe for constant global pandemic.

Non-human social groups and disease transmission

Studies have generated very mixed results regarding pathogen risk and prevalence in animal communities. Hoogland, 1979, found in his study that as the size of the ward increased, the abundance of parasites in the burrow also increased. Several studies that followed have also supported this finding that an increase in community size and density produces an increase of risk and prevalence of pathogenic infection.

Journal of infectious diseases and diagnosis announces papers for the upcoming issue. Interested can submit their manuscript through online portal.

Submit manuscript at http://www.longdom.org/submissions/infectious-diseases-diagnosis.html or send as an e-mail attachment to the Editorial Office at editor.jidd@longdomjournal.org

Media contact:

Eliza Grace

Managing Editor

Journal of Infectious Diseases and Diagnosis

Mail ID: editor.jidd@longdomjournal.org