Impact of Wearing Masks, Hand Hygiene, and Social Distancing on Influenza, Enterovirus, and All-Cause Pneumonia During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Retrospective National Epidemiological Surveillance Study
Impact of Wearing Masks, Hand Hygiene, and Social Distancing on Influenza, Enterovirus, and All-Cause Pneumonia During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Retrospective National Epidemiological Surveillance Study
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DOI：
10.2196/21257
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发表时间：
2020-08-20
影响因子：
7.4
通讯作者：
Lin, Chien-Yu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Chiu, Nan-Chang;Chi, Hsin;Lin, Chien-Yu
背景：冠状病毒病(新冠肺炎)大流行是全球范围内的重要健康危机。为了对抗新冠肺炎，政府采取了几种策略，包括戴口罩、保持手部卫生和保持社交距离。这些策略对新冠肺炎及其他病毒感染的影响仍不清楚。目的：调查实施传染病控制策略对新冠肺炎疫情期间流感、肠病毒感染及全因肺炎发病率的影响。方法：利用台湾国家传染病统计系统电子资料库，提取新冠肺炎、流感病毒、肠病毒及全因肺炎发病率。比较2016年第45周至2020年第21周的发病率，并进行线性回归分析。结果：台湾首例新冠肺炎病例于2020年1月下旬(第4周)报告。自1月下旬以来，一直在推进传染病控制策略。流感病毒通常在冬季达到高峰，并在第14周左右下降。然而，在2020年第6周之后，流感病毒显著下降。回归分析得出以下结果：2017年，R-2=0.037；2018年，R-2=0.021；2019年，R-2=0.046；2020年，R-2=0.599。全因肺炎的发病率也大幅下降(2017年至2020年的R-2值分别为0.435、0.098、0.352和0.82.)。肠道病毒在2017-2019年增加了18周，但在2020年没有观察到这种情况。结论：使用这个国家流行病学数据库，我们发现在新冠肺炎大流行期间，流感、肠道病毒和全原因肺炎病例显著减少。戴口罩、保持手部卫生和保持社交距离可能不仅有助于预防新冠肺炎，还有助于其他呼吸道传染病的下降。需要进一步的研究来阐明两者之间的因果关系。
Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important health crisis worldwide. Several strategies were implemented to combat COVID-19, including wearing masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing. The impact of these strategies on COVID-19 and other viral infections remains largely unclear.Objective: We aim to investigate the impact of implemented infectious control strategies on the incidences of influenza, enterovirus infection, and all-cause pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: We utilized the electronic database of the Taiwan National Infectious Disease Statistics System and extracted incidences of COVID-19, influenza virus, enterovirus, and all-cause pneumonia. We compared the incidences of these diseases from week 45 of 2016 to week 21 of 2020 and performed linear regression analyses.Results: The first case of COVID-19 in Taiwan was reported in late January 2020 (week 4). Infectious control strategies have been promoted since late January The influenza virus usually peaks in winter and decreases around week 14. However, a significant decrease in influenza was observed after week 6 of 2020. Regression analyses produced the following results: 2017, R-2 =0.037; 2018, R-2 =0.021; 2019, R-2 =0.046; and 2020, R-2 =0.599. A dramatic decrease in all-cause pneumonia was also reported (R-2 values for 2017-2020 were 0.435, 0.098, 0.352, and 0.82, respectively). Enterovirus had increased by week 18 in 2017-2019, but this was not observed in 2020.Conclusions: Using this national epidemiological database, we found a significant decrease in cases of influenza, enterovirus, and all-cause pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing may contribute not only to the prevention of COVID-19 but also to the decline of other respiratory infectious diseases. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the causal relationship.