Lee Hyun Jee, Choi Yujin, Park Jaeyu, Choi Yong-Sung, Yon Dong Keon, Kim Do Hyun
Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea.
Department of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Korean Medicine, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea.
Children (Basel). 2023 Aug 23;10(9):1436. doi: 10.3390/children10091436.
Rotavirus causes a gastrointestinal tract infection that primarily affects young children. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals infected with the virus were subjected to quarantine measures, with strong emphases on personal hygiene and social distancing. The present study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of rotaviruses and compare the prevalence of rotavirus infection before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This nationwide representative study was conducted using data acquired from the National Health Insurance Service between 2010 and 2021. We analyzed the data of patients younger than 12 months old who were diagnosed with rotavirus enteritis between January 2010 and December 2021. During the study period, a total of 34,487 infants younger than 12 months were diagnosed with rotavirus enteritis in South Korea. During the two-year COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), the rate of decline was significant (5843 cases in 2010 and 1125 in 2019), and by 2021, the total number of patients was almost negligible, as there are only 18 cases in 2021. A significant increase in the ratio of low birth weight (LBW) infants of inpatient department was observed from 2010 to 2021 (4.86% in 2010; 7.77% in 2019; and 23.08% in 2021), indicating that LBW infants are more vulnerable than infants born with normal weight. Average medical expenses related to rotavirus infections also declined significantly from 3,789,443,998 per year (pre-pandemic) to 808,353,795 per year (pandemic). Overall, personal hygiene and social distancing may play important roles in reducing rotavirus infections. However, further studies are needed to determine whether this decreasing trend persists after quarantine and whether the social life of individuals resumes.
轮状病毒可引发主要影响幼儿的胃肠道感染。由于新冠疫情，感染该病毒的个体需接受隔离措施，其中特别强调个人卫生和社交距离。本研究旨在评估轮状病毒的特征，并比较新冠疫情之前和期间轮状病毒感染的流行情况。这项具有全国代表性的研究使用了2010年至2021年期间从国家健康保险服务中心获取的数据。我们分析了2010年1月至2021年12月期间被诊断为轮状病毒肠炎的12个月以下婴儿的数据。在研究期间，韩国共有34487名12个月以下的婴儿被诊断为轮状病毒肠炎。在为期两年的新冠疫情期间（2020 - 2021年），下降幅度显著（2010年有5843例，2019年有1125例），到2021年，患者总数几乎可以忽略不计，因为2021年仅18例。从2010年到2021年，住院部低出生体重（LBW）婴儿的比例显著增加（2010年为4.86%；2019年为7.77%；2021年为23.08%），这表明低出生体重婴儿比正常体重出生的婴儿更易感染。与轮状病毒感染相关的平均医疗费用也从疫情前每年3789443998韩元大幅降至疫情期间每年808353795韩元。总体而言，个人卫生和社交距离可能在减少轮状病毒感染方面发挥重要作用。然而，需要进一步研究以确定这种下降趋势在隔离结束后是否持续，以及个体的社交生活是否恢复。
