abstract:The term Super-spreader refers to a person who infects disproportionally more secondary contacts than others infected with the same virus or bacteria. In the absence of super-spreaders, most individuals infect very few secondary contacts and studies have shown that individuals within a population have equal chances of transmitting any given infection to others.
"Working out how many people are likely to be infected by each super-spreader of Hepatitis C, as well as how soon they will be infected, has been a puzzle for over 20 years, " he said.