International Program in Hazardous Substance and Environmental Management, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
International Program in Hazardous Substance and Environmental Management, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
Travel Med Infect Dis. 2022 Jul-Aug;48:102348. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102348. Epub 2022 May 4.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has promoted stringent public health measures such as hand hygiene, face mask wearing, and physical distancing to contain the spread of the viral infection. In this retrospective study, the secondary outcomes of those public health measures on containing other respiratory infections among the Thai population were investigated. Hospitalization data spanning from 2016 to 2021 of six respiratory infectious diseases, namely influenza, measles, pertussis, pneumonia, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis (TB), were examined. First, the expected respiratory infectious cases where no public health measures are in place are estimated using the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model. Then the expected number of cases and the observed cases were compared. The results showed a significant drop in the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases by an average of 61%. The reduction in hospitalization is significant for influenza, measles, pertussis, pneumonia, and scarlet fever (p < 0.05), while insignificant for TB (p = 0.54). The notable decrease in the incidence of cases is ascribed to the implementation of public health measures that minimized the opportunity for spread of disease. This decline in cases following relaxation of pandemic countermeasure is contingent on its scope and nature, and it is proof that selective physical distancing, hand hygiene, and use of face masks in public places is a viable route for mitigating respiratory morbidities.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）促使实施了严格的公共卫生措施，如手部卫生、戴口罩和保持身体距离，以控制病毒感染的传播。在这项回顾性研究中，调查了这些公共卫生措施对控制泰国人群中其他呼吸道感染的次要结果。检查了 2016 年至 2021 年六种呼吸道传染病（流感、麻疹、百日咳、肺炎、猩红热和肺结核）的住院数据。首先，使用季节性自回归综合移动平均（SARIMA）模型估计没有采取公共卫生措施时预期的呼吸道传染病病例数。然后比较预期病例数和观察病例数。结果表明，呼吸道传染病的发病率平均下降了 61%。流感、麻疹、百日咳、肺炎和猩红热的住院人数减少具有统计学意义（p<0.05），而肺结核无统计学意义（p=0.54）。病例发生率的显著下降归因于实施了公共卫生措施，最大限度地减少了疾病传播的机会。大流行对策放松后病例的减少取决于其范围和性质，这证明在公共场所选择性保持身体距离、手部卫生和使用口罩是减轻呼吸道发病率的可行途径。
