The primary goal of this research was to identify whether the structure of the network of individuals who inject drugs and share drug injection equipment in Winnipeg, Canada may be scale-free. Recently, sexual networks have been found to be scale-free in a wide range of populations which has important implications in terms of the spread of disease. Epidemic thresholds do not exist in a scale-free network and as a result even weakly infectious viruses can spread easily through a network of contacts. By analogy, identifying the structure of contacts formed by individuals in other infectious disease networks may also help to define transmission dynamics which can be used to develop more effective interventions.
In a series of three papers the scientific literature from a variety of disciplines including physics, epidemiology, mathematical, biological and computer sciences relating to scale free networks is reviewed and integrated; methods used to identify scale-free networks are tested and compared among individuals who inject drugs in Winnipeg, Canada using data from two network studies (a pilot study and a main study); and potential new interventions that could be implemented to help reduce the transmission of HIV and HCV among individuals who inject drugs by the existing needle exchange program are recommended based on the results.
Keywords: Scale-free networks, injection drug use, epidemiology, network analysis
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/27903 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Pelude, Linda |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 122 p. |
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