Generating social networks of intimate contacts for the study of public health intervention strategies

Sexually transmitted diseases and infections are, by definition, transferred among intimate social settings. Although the circumstances under which these social settings are established and maintained may vary, the common prerequisite remains an intimate level of social atmosphere. For this reason, the development of sexually transmitted disease mathematical and computational models must utilize a precise and efficient social networking tool. This paper describes a computational simulator created to embody the intimate social networks related to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and infections for the utilization by public health professionals to facilitate evaluation of targeted intervention strategies.