Pathways of Infection: Sexual Networks and HIV/AIDS in a Sub-Saharan Population

Hans-Peter Kohler, University of Pennsylvania
Stephane Helleringer, Columbia University
Valerio Bacak, University of Pennsylvania

The sexual networks connecting members of a population have important consequences for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. However, very few datasets currently allow an investigation of the structure of sexual networks, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV epidemics have become generalized. Using the longitudinal sociocentric sexual network data available in the Likoma Network Study (LNS), this paper provides new and important insights into the structure of sexual networks in sub-Saharan populations, the relationship between the size and structure of sexual networks and HIV infection risks, and for the first time in a sub-Saharan population, the evolution of the population-level sexual networks over time, including differential changes in network position and structure by LNS Round 1 HIV status, marital/socioeconomic status, and Round 1 network position.