King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Infect Public Health. 2023 Dec;16(12):1989-1993. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2023.09.018. Epub 2023 Oct 23.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world implemented various interventions to manage the spread of respiratory illnesses, including influenza. However, there is a lack of studies that have assessed the influence of COVID-19 on influenza prevalence in Saudi Arabia. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of positive influenza cases before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the mitigation measures and policy initiatives in Saudi Arabia.
A multicenter, time-series cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate influenza prevalence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2021. This study included all patients who were screened for influenza infection at healthcare facilities across Saudi Arabia using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The primary outcome was to determine the prevalence of influenza infections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the secondary outcome was to describe the demographic data and comorbidities of the included patients in both periods.
During the study period, 5238 cases were identified based on a positive PCR result for influenza virus. The yearly number of influenza cases in the pre-COVID-19 period was 1123 (2.03 %), 1075 (1.63 %), and 1883 (2.20 %) cases in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. On the other hand, the number of cases during the COVID-19 pandemic was 417 (0.63 %) and 740 (1.27 %) in 2020 and 2021, respectively, with a comparable number of performed tests. Patients infected with the influenza virus between 2020 and 2021 were older than patients who were infected before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study found a lower number of influenza cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, with no clear peak during November and December 2020 and 2021.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，世界各国实施了各种干预措施来管理呼吸道疾病（包括流感）的传播。然而，目前缺乏评估 COVID-19 对沙特阿拉伯流感流行影响的研究。在本研究中，我们旨在评估 COVID-19 大流行前后与沙特阿拉伯缓解措施和政策倡议相关的阳性流感病例的流行率。
进行了一项多中心、时间序列的横断面研究，以评估 2017 年 1 月 1 日至 2021 年 12 月 31 日期间 COVID-19 大流行前后的流感流行率。本研究包括在沙特阿拉伯各地医疗机构使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）筛查流感感染的所有患者。主要结局是确定 COVID-19 大流行前后流感感染的流行率，次要结局是描述两个时期纳入患者的人口统计学数据和合并症。
在研究期间，根据流感病毒 PCR 阳性结果确定了 5238 例病例。在 COVID-19 前时期，每年的流感病例数分别为 2017 年 1123 例（2.03%）、2018 年 1075 例（1.63%）和 2019 年 1883 例（2.20%）。另一方面，COVID-19 大流行期间的病例数分别为 2020 年 417 例（0.63%）和 2021 年 740 例（1.27%），同时进行的检测数量相当。2020 年和 2021 年感染流感病毒的患者比 COVID-19 大流行前感染的患者年龄更大。
本研究发现 COVID-19 大流行期间流感病例数较少，2020 年和 2021 年 11 月和 12 月没有明显高峰。
