Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
Smart Aging Research Center, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
Viruses. 2023 Jan 13;15(1):223. doi: 10.3390/v15010223.
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the influenza virus had a very low prevalence, and in many areas, outbreaks were almost non-existent. In this study, the associations between infection control measures taken for COVID-19 and the global disappearance of the influenza virus were investigated. The detection rate of influenza from baseline was investigated during four seasons (12 weeks from epidemiological week 49 in 2020 and 2021 and 12 weeks from epidemiological week 23 in 2020 and 2021) in each country participating in the surveillance system of the World Health Organization. Three measures of infection control: mask use ratio, social distancing index (an index of human mobility and physical distance obligations), and an index of stringency of measures taken by authorities were studied. In mid-2020, most countries analyzed had high levels of infection control measures, and in most countries, influenza was drastically reduced compared to previous years. Multiple regression analyses compared the study data with data from other seasons. There was an association between high mask use with low influenza detection in all three remaining seasons, an association between a low social distancing index (low mobility and more social contact obligations) with a low influenza detection rate in two seasons, and a marginal significant association of high stringency index with a low influenza detection rate(in 2020-end-seasons). These results support the notion that seasonal influenza is controllable through effective preventive measures, especially those of mask use and human social contact, and these measures should be recommended during future waves of novel influenza virus infection.
在 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，流感病毒的流行率非常低，在许多地区，几乎没有爆发。在这项研究中，我们调查了为 COVID-19 采取的感染控制措施与全球流感病毒消失之间的关联。我们调查了参与世界卫生组织监测系统的每个国家在四个季节（2020 年和 2021 年的第 49 周流行病学周开始后的 12 周和第 23 周开始后的 12 周）基线时的流感检出率。我们研究了三种感染控制措施：口罩使用率、社会距离指数（人类流动性和物理距离义务的指数）和当局采取措施的严格程度指数。2020 年年中，分析的大多数国家都采取了高水平的感染控制措施，与前几年相比，大多数国家的流感病例大幅减少。多元回归分析将研究数据与其他季节的数据进行了比较。在所有三个剩余季节中，高口罩使用率与低流感检出率之间存在关联，在两个季节中，低社会距离指数（低流动性和更多社会接触义务）与低流感检出率之间存在关联，高严格指数与低流感检出率之间存在边缘显著关联（在 2020 年底季节）。这些结果支持了通过有效预防措施（尤其是口罩使用和人类社会接触）控制季节性流感的观点，并且在未来新型流感病毒感染的浪潮中应推荐这些措施。
