Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Faculty of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Epidemiol Infect. 2023 Apr 13;151:e67. doi: 10.1017/S0950268823000523.
We investigated the potential effects of COVID-19 public health restrictions on the prevalence and distribution of (NG) genotypes in our Queensland isolate population in the first half of the year 2020. A total of 763 NG isolates were genotyped to examine gonococcal strain distribution and prevalence for the first 6 months of 2020, with 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020 classified as 'pre' COVID-19 restrictions ( = 463) and 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 classified as 'post' COVID-19 restrictions ( = 300). Genotypes most prevalent 'pre' restrictions remained proportionally high 'post' restrictions, with some significantly increasing 'post' restrictions. However, genotype diversity was significantly reduced 'post' restrictions. Overall, it seems public health restrictions (9-10 weeks) were not sufficient to affect rates of infection or reduce the prevalence of well-established genotypes in our population, potentially due to reduced access to services or health-seeking behaviours.
我们调查了 COVID-19 公共卫生限制对 2020 年上半年昆士兰州分离株人群中 （NG） 基因型流行和分布的潜在影响。总共对 763 个 NG 分离株进行了基因分型，以检查淋病奈瑟菌菌株的分布和 2020 年前 6 个月的流行率，其中 2020 年 1 月 1 日至 3 月 31 日被归类为“前” COVID-19 限制（= 463），2020 年 4 月 1 日至 6 月 30 日被归类为“后” COVID-19 限制（= 300）。“前”限制中最流行的基因型在“后”限制中仍然保持相对较高的比例，其中一些基因型在“后”限制中显著增加。然而，“后”限制中基因型的多样性显著降低。总体而言，公共卫生限制（9-10 周）似乎不足以影响感染率或降低我们人群中既定基因型的流行率，这可能是由于服务减少或寻求健康行为。
