- Changes in the pattern and disease burden of acute viral respiratory infections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Chungmin Park, Donghan Lee, Inho Kim, Sujin Park, Gyehee Lee, Sangwoo Tak
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Received May 5, 2022 Accepted June 15, 2022 Published online June 23, 2022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0144
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 Abstract
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- Objectives
We conducted a comparative analysis of the differences in the incidence of 8 acute respiratory viruses and the changes in their patterns before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods
Three sentinel surveillance systems of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were analyzed. The average numbers of reported cases and the related hospital admissions and outpatient data were compared between April 2018–2019 and 2020–2021. Changes in the disease burden and medical expenditures between these 2 time periods were evaluated.
Results
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of reported cases of all acute viral respiratory infections, except for human bocavirus, decreased significantly. Data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service also showed decreases in the actual amount of medical service usage and a marked reduction in medical expenditures.
Conclusion
Non-pharmacological interventions in response to COVID-19 showed preventive effects on the transmission of other respiratory viruses, as well as COVID-19. Although COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on society as a whole, with high social costs, there were also positive effects, such as a reduction in the incidence of acute viral respiratory infections.
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