Epidemiology and Health

COVID-19: Brief Communication

Trends in gastrointestinal infections before and during non-pharmaceutical interventions in Korea in comparison with the United States: Soyeoun Kim, Jinhyun Kim, Bo Youl Choi, Boyoung Park; Epidemiol Health. 2022;44:e2022011. Published online January 3, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022011; Correction in: Epidemiol Health 2022;44(0):e2022011.E

10,186 View
484 Download
5 Web of Science
5 Crossref

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study examined how trends in the weekly frequencies of gastrointestinal infectious diseases changed before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Korea, and compared them with the trends in the United States.

METHODS

We compared the weekly frequencies of gastrointestinal infectious diseases (16 bacterial and 6 viral diseases) in Korea during weeks 5-52 before and after COVID-19. In addition, the weekly frequencies of 5 gastrointestinal infectious diseases in the United States (data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that overlapped with those in Korea were compared.

RESULTS

The mean weekly number of total cases of gastrointestinal infectious diseases in Korea showed a significant decrease (from 522 before COVID-19 to 245 after COVID-19, p<0.01). Only bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases caused by Campylobacter increased significantly; other bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases showed either a decrease or no change. The incidence of all other viral diseases decreased. In the United States, the weekly numbers of Salmonella, Campylobacter, typhoid, shigellosis, and hepatitis A virus cases sharply decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. The weekly case numbers of all viral diseases markedly decreased in both countries; however, bacterial gastrointestinal infectious diseases showed a different pattern.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of gastrointestinal infectious diseases decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. In contrast, Campylobacter infections showed an increasing trend in Korea, but a decreasing trend in the United States. Further studies are needed to elucidate the different trends in bacterial and viral infectious diseases before and after non-pharmaceutical interventions and between different countries.

Summary

Korean summary
한국과 미국 모두 코로나-19 발생 이후 위장관 감염 질환의 발생은 감소하고 있습니다. 하지만, 미국과 달리 한국에서는 캄필로박터 감염은 증가 하고 있습니다. 이는 COVID-19이 발생한 이후 캄필로박터 감염의 열악한 통제의 가능성을 설명할 수 있습니다.

Key Message
The incidence of gastrointestinal infectious diseases decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak, however, campylobacter infections showed an increasing trend in Korea, unlike the United States, which could explain the poor control of Campylobacter.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the circulation of other pathogens in England
Lauren J. Hayes, Hannah Uri, Denisa Bojkova, Jindrich Cinatl, Mark N. Wass, Martin Michaelis
Journal of Medical Virology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on GI infection surveillance trends in England, January 2020–April 2022
Nicola K. Love, Amy Douglas, Saheer Gharbia, Helen Hughes, Roger Morbey, Isabel Oliver, Gillian E. Smith, Alex J. Elliot
Epidemiology and Infection.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Trends for Syndromic Surveillance of Norovirus in Emergency Department Data Based on Chief Complaints
Soyeoun Kim, Sohee Kim, Bo Youl Choi, Boyoung Park
The Journal of Infectious Diseases.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Trends in Gastrointestinal Infections during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Concerns of Post-Pandemic Resurgence in Japan
Takuma Higurashi, Shigeki Tamura, Noboru Misawa, Nobuyuki Horita
Diseases.2023; 12(1): 4. CrossRef
Characteristics and related factors of waterborne and foodborne infectious disease outbreaks before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (2017–2021) in the Republic of Korea: a descriptive study
Eunkyoung Kim, Bryan Inho Kim
Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives.2023; 14(6): 483. CrossRef

First
Prev
Page of 1
Next
Last

Search