A recent study from Israel has reported an increase in the incidence of non-Covid respiratory infections in the first 3 months in all age groups after the Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed. Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study cautions about similar scenarios in other countries after restrictions are relaxed, which may pose a challenge to the healthcare system in concurrence with the threat of emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Researchers evaluated 386,711 patients who attended 209 community clinics from January 2017 through June 2021 with complaints of respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses in this cross-sectional study. There were more than 1.2 million clinic visits. The mean age of the participants was 27 years and men comprised just over half of the study population (52.3%). Those with a recurrent infection, symptomatic diagnosis, or COVID-19 diagnosis were not included in the study group. The study sought to investigate the incidence rates (IRs) of infectious diseases from April to June 2021 when the Covid restrictions were lifted.

The rates of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory and gastrointestinal infection were found to be significantly high in children aged ≤ 3 years (IR ratio 2.64) in the three months after lifting of restrictions. And, all age groups included in the study showed a very high incidence of non-Covid respiratory infections (IR ratio 1.74).

Older adults, aged ≥80 years, reported more of non-SARS-CoV-2 upper respiratory tract infections (IRR 1.20) and lower respiratory tract infections (IRR 1.38), but less GI infections (IRR 0.90)

This study highlights that the restrictions imposed on account of the pandemic also reduced the incidence of non-Covid infectious diseases such as flu, but relaxation of the restrictions saw a rise in their incidence. This was particularly evident in children younger than 3 years of age. Less adherence to personal protective behaviors such as physical distancing, mask wearing, hand washing may account for this rebound in infections.

 Reference

1. Amar S, et al. Prevalence of common infectious diseases after COVID-19 vaccination and easing of pandemic restrictions in Israel. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Feb 1;5(2):e2146175. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.46175.