Public Health Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic Reduce the Spread of Other Respiratory Infectious Diseases

Frontiers in Public Health

Zhu-xiang Zhao¹  Qi-min Su²  Wen-shuai Cui²  Yan-yan Zhang²  Yi Lei²  Yan Zhou²  Xin-yan Li²  Yu-wen Tang²  Cheng-yi Hu²  Zhong-fang Wang³ 

[1] National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China;;State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease &

关键词: COVID-19;    public health measures;    respiratory infectious diseases;    infectious diseases;    measles;    tuberculosis;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.771638

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: Public health measures (such as wearing masks, physical distancing, and isolation) have significantly reduced the spread of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), but the impact of public health measures on other respiratory infectious diseases is unclear.Objective: To assess the correlation between public health measures and the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: We collected the data from the National Health and Construction Commission in China on the number of patients with six respiratory infectious diseases (measles, tuberculosis, pertussis, scarlet fever, influenza, and mumps) from 2017 to 2020 and assessed the correlation between public health measures and the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases. Finally, we used the data of the six respiratory infectious diseases in 2021 to verify our results.Results: We found public health measures significantly reduced the incidence of measles (p = 0.002), tuberculosis (p = 0.002), pertussis (p = 0.004), scarlet fever (p = 0.002), influenza (p = 0.034), and mumps (p = 0.002) in 2020, and prevented seasonal peaks. Moreover, the effects of public health measures were most marked during the peak seasons for these infections. Of the six respiratory infectious diseases considered, tuberculosis was least affected by public health measures.Conclusion: Public health measures were very effective in reducing the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases, especially when the respiratory infectious diseases would normally have been at their peak.

【 授权许可】

Unknown