A Case Study on Trends in Acute Respiratory Illnesses and Influenza in Singapore: Pre-, during, and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic.

IF 1.4 4区医学 Q3 Medicine

Iranian Journal of Public Health Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.18502/ijph.v54i4.18417

Kee Leng Chua, Hwang Ching Chan, Jyoti Somani, See Ming Lim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: We investigated trends in acute respiratory illnesses and influenza activity in Singapore throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Publicly available data from the Ministry of Health, Singapore was used to estimate the number of daily acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) and influenza cases between 2019 and Jun 2023. Overseas travel activity was obtained from the Department of Statistics, Singapore. Trends in ARI and influenza activity during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic with changes in key public health measures were compared.

Results: Pre-pandemic influenza activity exhibited seasonal peaks in Jan and Jul, with daily estimated cases exceeding 40 during these periods. During the early pandemic, influenza cases declined sharply to close to zero and remained at these levels until mid-2022, even after public health measures were eased. ARI cases followed a similar initial decline but gradually returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2023, with peaks occurring outside the usual seasonal pattern. These trends corresponded with phases of public health measures, including mask-wearing and travel restrictions.

Conclusion: Several hypotheses for these contrasting trends were explored, including increased public health awareness, higher influenza vaccination rates, and potential virus-virus interactions.

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新加坡急性呼吸道疾病和流感趋势的案例研究：covid -19大流行之前、期间和之后。

背景：我们调查了2019冠状病毒病大流行期间新加坡急性呼吸道疾病和流感活动的趋势。方法：使用新加坡卫生部的公开数据来估计2019年至2023年6月期间每日急性呼吸道疾病（ARI）和流感病例的数量。海外旅游活动数据来自新加坡统计局。比较了2019冠状病毒病大流行不同阶段急性呼吸道感染和流感活动的趋势以及主要公共卫生措施的变化。结果：大流行前流感活动在1月和7月出现季节性高峰，在此期间每日估计病例超过40例。在早期大流行期间，流感病例急剧下降至接近于零，即使在放松公共卫生措施之后，直到2022年年中仍保持在这一水平。急性呼吸道感染病例最初出现了类似的下降，但到2023年逐渐恢复到大流行前的水平，高峰出现在通常的季节性模式之外。这些趋势与公共卫生措施的各个阶段相对应，包括戴口罩和限制旅行。结论：对这些对比趋势的几种假设进行了探讨，包括公众卫生意识的提高、流感疫苗接种率的提高以及潜在的病毒-病毒相互作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Iranian Journal of Public Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

2.20

自引率

7.10%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Iranian Journal of Public Health has been continuously published since 1971, as the only Journal in all health domains, with wide distribution (including WHO in Geneva and Cairo) in two languages (English and Persian). From 2001 issue, the Journal is published only in English language. During the last 41 years more than 2000 scientific research papers, results of health activities, surveys and services, have been published in this Journal. To meet the increasing demand of respected researchers, as of January 2012, the Journal is published monthly. I wish this will assist to promote the level of global knowledge. The main topics that the Journal would welcome are: Bioethics, Disaster and Health, Entomology, Epidemiology, Health and Environment, Health Economics, Health Services, Immunology, Medical Genetics, Mental Health, Microbiology, Nutrition and Food Safety, Occupational Health, Oral Health. We would be very delighted to receive your Original papers, Review Articles, Short communications, Case reports and Scientific Letters to the Editor on the above mentioned research areas.