Background The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is one of the healthy eating plans recommended to promote health and prevent chronic diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries adopted restrictive measures to mitigate infection spread, which might have influenced people's lifestyle and dietary habits. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the impact of stay-at home orders' implementation on adherence to MD. Methods Studies were identified searching Medline, Embase, and Web Of Science, the search strategy was developed using a combination of free text and mesh terms referring to COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, and MD. Studies published until March 31st, 2021 were included. We only considered studies reporting original data from quantitative analysis and assessing modifications of adherence to the MD through validated dietary scores or any change in consumption of food categories that are typically ascribed to the MD. Data extraction, pooling and quality appraisal of the included studies, were conducted applying PRISMA guidelines. Results 42 studies were retrieved. After duplicates removal, and in-blind two-step screening, 10 studies met our a priori defined inclusion criteria and were included in the review. 71.4% of the studies reporting a rate of change in adherence, measured through validated questionnaire both before and during lockdown, reported an increase, while 28.6% reported no significative changes. All included studies reporting the percentage of participants having a high adherence to the MD, based on their results on MEDAS questionnaire, before and during the lockdown, found an increase in this percentage. Conclusions Adherence to the MD could have raised in people undergoing lockdowns due to COVID-19. Key messages The impact of restrictive measures on determinants of health must be monitored. Despite the literature suggests adherence to MD has declined in the last years, this trend may have reversed or, at least, slowed during the initial phases of the current pandemic.

Background School closures and distance learning have been extensively adopted to counter the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the contribution of school transmission to the spread of SARS‐CoV‐2 remains poorly quantified. Methods We analyzed transmission patterns associated with 976 SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure events, involving 460 positive individuals, as identified in early 2021 through routine surveillance and an extensive screening conducted on students, school personnel, and their household members in a small Italian municipality. In addition to population screenings and contact‐tracing operations, reactive closures of class and schools were implemented. Results From the analysis of 152 clear infection episodes and 584 exposure events identified by epidemiological investigations, we estimated that approximately 50%, 21%, and 29% of SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission was associated with household, school, and community contacts, respectively. We found substantial transmission heterogeneities, with 20% positive individuals causing 75% to 80% of ascertained infection episodes. A higher proportion of infected individuals causing onward transmission was found among students (46.2% vs. 25%, on average), who also caused a markedly higher number of secondary cases (mean: 1.03 vs. 0.35). By reconstructing likely transmission chains from the entire set of exposures identified during contact‐tracing operations, we found that clusters originated from students or school personnel were associated with a larger average cluster size (3.32 vs. 1.15) and a larger average number of generations in the transmission chain (1.56 vs. 1.17). Conclusions Uncontrolled SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission at school could disrupt the regular conduct of teaching activities, likely seeding the transmission into other settings, and increasing the burden on contact‐tracing operations.

Healthcare delivery reorganization during the COVID-19 emergency may have had a significant impact on access to care for older adults with chronic conditions. We investigated such impact among all adults with chronic conditions aged ≥ 65 years, identified through the electronic health databases of two local health agencies—ATS Brianza and ATS Bergamo—from the Lombardy region, Italy. We considered hospitalizations for 2020 compared to the average 2017–2019 and quantified differences using rate ratios (RRs). Overall, in 2017–2019 there were a mean of 374,855 older adults with  ≥ 1 chronic condition per year in the two ATS and 405,371 in 2020. Hospitalizations significantly decreased from 84,624 (225.8/1000) in 2017–2019 to 78,345 (193.3/1000) in 2020 (RR 0.86). Declines were reported in individuals with many chronic conditions and for most Major Diagnostic Categories, except for diseases of the respiratory system. The strongest reductions were observed in hospitalizations for individuals with active tumours, particularly for surgical ones. Hospitalization rates increased in individuals with diabetes, likely due to COVID-19-related diseases. Although determinants of the decrease in demand and supply for care among chronic older adults are to be further explored, this raises awareness on their impacts on chronic patients’ health in the medium and long run.

No abstract