The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on chlamydia infection in South Korea: a comparison between the pre-pandemic and during-pandemic periods

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Sukhyun Ryu¹  Achangwa Chiara²  Se-Min Hwang³  Jae-Heon Jung³ 

[1] Department of Preventive Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Department of Preventive Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Department of Public Health and Welfare, The Graduate School, Konyang University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Konyang University Myunggok Medical Research Institute, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Department of Preventive Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Konyang University Myunggok Medical Research Institute, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;

关键词: chlamydia;    surveillance;    sexually transmitted infection (STI);    sexually transmitted disease (STD);    SARS-CoV-2;    Korea;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1167321

 received in 2023-02-16, accepted in 2023-03-29,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPrior to COVID-19 pandemic, a yearly upward trajectory in the number of chlamydia infection cases was observed in South Korea. However, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea implemented several public health and social measures, which were shown to have an impact on the epidemiology of other infectious diseases. This study aimed to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence and number of reported chlamydia infections in South Korea.MethodsUsing the monthly number of reported chlamydia infection data between 2017 and 2022, we compared the trends in the reported numbers, and the incidence rates (IR) of chlamydia infection stratified by demographic characteristics (sex, age group, and region) in the pre- and during COVID-19 pandemic period (January 2017–December 2019 and January 2020–December 2022).ResultsWe observed an irregular downward trajectory in the number of chlamydia infection in the during-pandemic period. A 30% decrease in the total number of chlamydia infection was estimated in the during-pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, with the decrease greater among males (35%) than females (25%). In addition, there was a decrease in the cumulative incidence rate of the during COVID-19 pandemic period (IR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.42–0.44) compared to the pre-pandemic period (IR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.59–0.61).ConclusionsWe identified decrease in the number of chlamydia infection during COVID-19 pandemic which is likely due to underdiagnosis and underreporting for the infection. Therefore, strengthening surveillance for sexually transmitted infections including chlamydia is warranted for an effective and timely response in case of an unexpected rebound in the number of the infections.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Chiara, Ryu, Jung and Hwang.