Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States.
One important concern around the spread of respiratory infectious diseases has been the contribution of public transportation, a space where people are in close contact with one another and with high-use surfaces. While disease clearly spreads along transportation routes, there is limited evidence a...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
|
Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242990 |
id |
doaj-abd0800ce5004621b223436125d65bd0 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-abd0800ce5004621b223436125d65bd02021-03-04T12:47:28ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-011512e024299010.1371/journal.pone.0242990Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States.Renata E HowlandNicholas R CowanScarlett S WangMitchell L MossSherry GliedOne important concern around the spread of respiratory infectious diseases has been the contribution of public transportation, a space where people are in close contact with one another and with high-use surfaces. While disease clearly spreads along transportation routes, there is limited evidence about whether public transportation use itself is associated with the overall prevalence of contagious respiratory illnesses at the local level. We examine the extent of the association between public transportation and influenza mortality, a proxy for disease prevalence, using city-level data on influenza and pneumonia mortality and public transit use from 121 large cities in the United States (US) between 2006 and 2015. We find no evidence of a positive relationship between city-level transit ridership and influenza/pneumonia mortality rates, suggesting that population level rates of transit use are not a singularly important factor in the transmission of influenza.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242990 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Renata E Howland Nicholas R Cowan Scarlett S Wang Mitchell L Moss Sherry Glied |
spellingShingle |
Renata E Howland Nicholas R Cowan Scarlett S Wang Mitchell L Moss Sherry Glied Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Renata E Howland Nicholas R Cowan Scarlett S Wang Mitchell L Moss Sherry Glied |
author_sort |
Renata E Howland |
title |
Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. |
title_short |
Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. |
title_full |
Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. |
title_fullStr |
Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: Evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the United States. |
title_sort |
public transportation and transmission of viral respiratory disease: evidence from influenza deaths in 121 cities in the united states. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
One important concern around the spread of respiratory infectious diseases has been the contribution of public transportation, a space where people are in close contact with one another and with high-use surfaces. While disease clearly spreads along transportation routes, there is limited evidence about whether public transportation use itself is associated with the overall prevalence of contagious respiratory illnesses at the local level. We examine the extent of the association between public transportation and influenza mortality, a proxy for disease prevalence, using city-level data on influenza and pneumonia mortality and public transit use from 121 large cities in the United States (US) between 2006 and 2015. We find no evidence of a positive relationship between city-level transit ridership and influenza/pneumonia mortality rates, suggesting that population level rates of transit use are not a singularly important factor in the transmission of influenza. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242990 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT renataehowland publictransportationandtransmissionofviralrespiratorydiseaseevidencefrominfluenzadeathsin121citiesintheunitedstates AT nicholasrcowan publictransportationandtransmissionofviralrespiratorydiseaseevidencefrominfluenzadeathsin121citiesintheunitedstates AT scarlettswang publictransportationandtransmissionofviralrespiratorydiseaseevidencefrominfluenzadeathsin121citiesintheunitedstates AT mitchelllmoss publictransportationandtransmissionofviralrespiratorydiseaseevidencefrominfluenzadeathsin121citiesintheunitedstates AT sherryglied publictransportationandtransmissionofviralrespiratorydiseaseevidencefrominfluenzadeathsin121citiesintheunitedstates |
_version_ |
1714801585002905600 |