Changing patterns of infectious diseases in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Ping-Hong Chen¹  Jiunn-Ren Wu¹  Ting-I Lin¹  Yu-Tsun Su²  Ching-Chung Tsai²  Ming-Chun Yang³ 

[1] Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;School of Medicine for International Students, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Department of Pediatrics, E-DA Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;School of Medicine, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;

关键词: coronavirus disease 2019;    immune debt;    influenza;    pediatric;    pneumococcus;    respiratory tract infection;    respiratory syncytial virus;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcimb.2023.1200617

 received in 2023-04-05, accepted in 2023-06-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Each infectious disease has had its own epidemic pattern and seasonality for decades. However, public health mitigation measures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have resulted in changing epidemic patterns of infectious diseases. Stringent measures resulted in low incidences of various infectious diseases during the outbreak of COVID-19, including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, pneumococcus, enterovirus, and parainfluenza. Owing to the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and subsequent immunity development, decreasing virulence of SARS-CoV-2, and worldwide immunization against SARS-CoV-2 in children beyond 6 months of age, mitigation measures are lifted country by country. Consequently, the immunity debt to infectious respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2 contributed to the “off-season,” “see-saw,” and “upsurge” patterns of various infectious diseases in children. Moreover, apart from the persistence of SARS-CoV-2, the coexistence of other circulating viruses or bacterial outbreaks may lead to twindemics or tripledemics during the following years. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain hand hygiene and immunization policies against various pathogens to alleviate the ongoing impact of infectious diseases on children.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Yang, Su, Chen, Tsai, Lin and Wu