Incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Recent reports indicate that respiratory infectious diseases were suppressed during the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 led to behavioral changes aimed to control droplet transmission or contact transmission. In this study, we examined the incidence of common infectious diseases in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 data were extracted from the national data based on the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID). Common infectious diseases were selected from notifiable infectious diseases under the NESID. The epidemic activity of the diseases during 2015–2020 was evaluated based on the Infectious Disease Weekly Reports published by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. Each disease was then categorized according to the route of transmission. Many Japanese people had adopted hygienic activities, such as wearing masks and hand washing, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the correlation between the time-series of disease counts of common infectious diseases and COVID-19 over time using cross-correlation analysis. The weekly number of cases of measles, rotavirus, and several infections transmitted by droplet spread, was negatively correlated with the weekly number of cases of COVID-19 for up to 20 weeks in the past. According to the difference-in-differences analysis, the activity of influenza and rubella was significantly lower starting from the second week in 2020 than that in 2015–2019. Only legionellosis was more frequent throughout the year than in 2015–2019. Lower activity was also observed in some contact transmitted, airborne-transmitted, and fecal-oral transmitted diseases. However, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, exanthema subitum, showed the same trend as that over the previous 5 years. In conclusion, our study shows that public health interventions for the COVID-19 pandemic may have effectively prevented the transmission of most droplet-transmitted diseases and those transmitted through other routes.

The impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiology of non-airborne/droplet-transmitted notifiable infectious diseases in Taiwan: A descriptive study

“…The decreasing fecal-oral-, vector-borne, and direct-contact transmitted NIDs during pandemic were consistent with previous studies in other countries [12] , [18] , [19] , [20] . In Netherland, gastrointestinal-related NIDs, such as norovirus disease, hepatitis A and shigellosis and travel-related NIDs, such as malaria, Zika, typhoid fever, cholera, yellow fever and paratyphus were reported 50% less often during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic than in the corresponding period in 2017–2019 [18] .…”

“…Although the implementation of these NPIs was developed to contain COVID-19, many studies had showed it also help decrease the activity of other airborne/droplet-transmitted infectious diseases, such as influenza, invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD), and measles [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] . In contrast, the effect of NPIs on the epidemiology of non-airborne/droplet-transmitted infectious diseases was rarely reported and most of them were conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] . To better understand the long-term effect of COVID-19 on the activity of non-airborne/droplet-transmitted infectious diseases, this study was conducted to compare the case number of non-airborne/droplet-transmitted notifiable infectious disease (NID) between pandemic period and the pre-pandemic period.…”

Relationship between the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Well-Being of Adolescents and Their Parents in Switzerland

“…It may seem surprising at first sight that during the partial lockdown period, on average, the general health of both adolescents and parents included in this research improved. However, this confirms some known data, namely that during this period, various infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and legionellosis declined, due to the limitation of interpersonal contacts and therefore, the risks of contamination ( (accessed on 12 March 2022)) [ 31 , 32 ]. In addition, the widespread use of masks, hydro-alcoholic gels, and social distancing certainly also had an impact beyond the prevention of COVID-19 alone.…”

Changes in Health Care Access during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Estimates of National Japanese Data, June 2020–October 2021

“…Tuberculosis beds were a notable exception, however, with decreased numbers of inpatients but increased numbers of new hospitalizations. The decreased number of inpatients in likely attributable to the fact that rates of tuberculosis decreased in Japan during the pandemic [ 35 ]. Increased social distancing and masking decreased the aerosol transmission of tuberculosis, and decreased travel because of tight border restrictions essentially eliminated imported cases of tuberculosis.…”