The role of short term population movement in sustaining STI prevalence in remote Australian Indigenous communities

Abstract

For almost two decades, diagnosis rates of sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea have been notably higher for residents of remote Indigenous communities than for non-Indigenous Australians. High levels of population movement between remote communities may be a contributing factor in sustaining these high rates. We developed an individual-based computer simulation model to study the relationship between population movement and the persistence of STIs within multiple small communities. We examine the distribution of infection across locations and the impact of mobility and periodicity on prevalence over a range of location- and time-specific screening interventi..