SOCRATES-CoMix: a Platform for Timely and Open-source Contact Mixing Data During and in Between COVID-19 Surges and Interventions in over 20 European Countries

Overview

Journal BMC Med

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2021 Sep 29

PMID 34583683

Citations 35

Authors

Frederik Verelst

Lisa Hermans

Sarah Vercruysse

Amy Gimma

Pietro Coletti

Jantien A Backer

Kerry L M Wong

James Wambua

Kevin van Zandvoort

Lander Willem

Laurens Bogaardt

Christel Faes

Christopher I Jarvis

Jacco Wallinga

W John Edmunds

Philippe Beutels

Niel Hens

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: SARS-CoV-2 dynamics are driven by human behaviour. Social contact data are of utmost importance in the context of transmission models of close-contact infections.

Methods: Using online representative panels of adults reporting on their own behaviour as well as parents reporting on the behaviour of one of their children, we collect contact mixing (CoMix) behaviour in various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in over 20 European countries. We provide these timely, repeated observations using an online platform: SOCRATES-CoMix. In addition to providing cleaned datasets to researchers, the platform allows users to extract contact matrices that can be stratified by age, type of day, intensity of the contact and gender. These observations provide insights on the relative impact of recommended or imposed social distance measures on contacts and can inform mathematical models on epidemic spread.

Conclusion: These data provide essential information for policymakers to balance non-pharmaceutical interventions, economic activity, mental health and wellbeing, during vaccine rollout.

Citing Articles

Assessing the role of children in the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium using perturbation analysis.

Angeli L, Caetano C, Franco N, Coletti P, Faes C, Molenberghs G Nat Commun. 2025; 16(1):2230.

PMID: 40044649 PMC: 11882900. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57087-z.

Social contact patterns in South Korea: an analysis of a survey conducted in 2023-2024.

Son W, Chae M, Hwang D, Nah K, Kim M, Kim J BMC Infect Dis. 2025; 25(1):295.

PMID: 40025440 PMC: 11871801. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-025-10706-y.

Evolution of social contacts patterns in France over the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: results from the SocialCov survey.

Soussand F, Abdou A, Sanchez M, Huynh B, Giese C, Tran-Kiem C BMC Infect Dis. 2025; 25(1):224.

PMID: 39953405 PMC: 11829358. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-025-10611-4.

Towards pandemic preparedness: ability to estimate high-resolution social contact patterns from longitudinal surveys.

Dan S, Tegegne J, Chen Y, Ling Z, Jaeger V, Karch A Res Sq. 2024; .

PMID: 39711531 PMC: 11661306. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5182601/v1.

Vaccination strategies for different contact patterns: weighing epidemiological against economic outcomes.

Forslid R, Herzing M Int J Health Econ Manag. 2024; .

PMID: 39316345 DOI: 10.1007/s10754-024-09384-1.

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