Weighting for sex acts to understand the spread of STI on networks

Mathieu Moslonka-Lefebvre (1, 2, 3) , Sebastian Bonhoeffer , Samuel Alizon (4)

1 Department of Biology
2 Biochemistry and Bio-engineering Department
3 Division of Biology
4 MIVEGEC-ETE - Evolution Théorique et Expérimentale

Human sexual networks exhibit a heterogeneous structure where few individuals have many partners and many individuals have few partners. Network theory predicts that the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) on such networks should exhibit striking properties (e.g. rapid spread). However, these properties cannot be found in epidemiological data. Current network models typically assume a constant STI transmission risk per partnership, which is unrealistic because it implies that sexual activity is proportional to the number of partners and that individuals have the same activity with each partner. We develop a framework that allows us to weight any sexual network based on biological assumptions. Our results indicate that STI spreading on the resulting weighted networks do not have heterogeneous-related properties, which is consistent with data and earlier studies.

Mots clés: networks; epidemiology; sex; model

Domaines: Evolution [q-bio.PE]; Microbiologie et Parasitologie; Modélisation et simulation; Systématique, phylogénie et taxonomie

Mathieu Moslonka-Lefebvre, Sebastian Bonhoeffer, Samuel Alizon. Weighting for sex acts to understand the spread of STI on networks. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2012, 311 (octobre2012 et janvier 2013), pp.46-53. ⟨10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.06.031⟩. ⟨hal-01567925⟩