Incidence Among Infants in Moscow Including the COVID-19 Statistics

The study presents the data on incidence among infants in Moscow. The author analyzed the indicators of overall incidence, the characteristics of disease distribution, and the level of follow-up care in children of the given age group. The data was obtained from the open sources of Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) and from the Federal Statistical Observation Form No. 12 “On the number of diseases registered in patients residing in the service area of a medical organization” from 2016 to 2022. The author evaluated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the pre-COVID incidence trends in general and by specific disease categories, as well as on the distribution of diseases common to infants. The results show a decrease in overall incidence and specifically of infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, injuries, poisonings, and other external causes in all age groups. While overall incidence was decreasing between 2020 and 2022, the number of cases requiring the follow-up care was constantly growing. The absence of herd immunity and newborn vaccination due to the age characteristics of the group has led to an explosion of COVID-19 cases in the last three years. The study also revealed the variation in indicators for certain diseases, which warrants further investigation of the dynamics in these nosological groups.