Trends in gastrointestinal infections before and during non-pharmaceutical interventions in Korea in comparison with the United States

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:To examine how the trends in the weekly frequencies of gastrointestinal infectious diseases changed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea, and to compare them with the trends in the United States. METHODS:We compared the weekly frequencies of gastrointestinal infectious diseases (16 bacterial and 6 viral diseases) in Korea during weeks 5-52 before and after COVID-19. In addition, the weekly frequencies of five gastrointestinal infectious diseases in the United States (data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that overlapped with those in Korea were compared. RESULTS:The mean weekly number of total gastrointestinal infectious diseases in Korea showed a significant decrease (from 522 before COVID-19 to 245 after COVID-19, P < 0.01). Only bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases caused byCampylobacter increased significantly; other bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases showed either a decrease or no change. All other viral diseases decreased. In the United States, the weekly numbers of Salmonella, Campylobacter, typhoid, shigellosis, and hepatitis A virus sharply decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. The weekly numbers of all viral diseases markedly decreased in both countries; however, the bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases showed a different pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Most gastrointestinal infectious diseases decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. In contrast, Campylobacter infections showed an increasing trend in Korea, but a decreasing trend in the United States. Further studies are needed to elucidate the different trends in bacterial and viral infectious diseases before and after NPIs and between different countries.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the circulation of other pathogens in England

“…Figure 22), which is in line with other studies and commonly attributed to underreporting [6,7]. Generally, the initial drop in documented cases during the first lockdown is difficult to interpret, as it might be the consequence of underreporting [6][7][8].…”

“…Moreover, our findings are in line with others showing that hygiene measures and physical distancing reduce the transmission of (foodborne) enteric diseases that are transmitted via the faecal-oral route [3,8,9,13,14]. Also in agreement with previous findings [3], the COVID-19 pandemic and the related prevention measures disrupted the seasonal transmission patterns of different infectious diseases (Figure 1; Suppl.…”

Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the circulation of other pathogens in England

“…5 Generally, the drop in documented cases during the first lockdown is difficult to interpret, as it might be the consequence of underreporting. 5,6 Thirteen diseases displayed a sustained reduction when prevention measures were in place (Figure 1 and Supporting Information: The prevention measure-associated associated reduction of airborne pathogens confirms other findings. 2,7 The only exception was tuberculosis (Figure 1 and Supporting Information: Figure 9).…”

“… 5 Generally, the drop in documented cases during the first lockdown is difficult to interpret, as it might be the consequence of underreporting. 5 , 6 …”

“…Moreover, our findings agree with others showing that hygiene measures and physical distancing reduce the transmission of enteric diseases that are transmitted via the fecal–oral route. 1 , 6 , 7 Exceptions may indicate pathogens that are predominantly spread by food contaminations without significant further human‐to‐human transmission. 4 Also in agreement with previous findings, 2 the pandemic‐related prevention measures disrupted the seasonal transmission patterns of different infectious diseases (Figure 1 and Supporting Information: Figures 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 and 20 ).…”