Lovisa Ivarsson1,2, Magdalena de Arriba Sánchez de la Campa1,2, Karin Elfving3, Hong Yin3, Karolina Gullsby4, Lisa Stark5, Berit Andersen6,7, Steen Hoffmann8, Åsa Gylfe9, Magnus Unemo10,11, Björn Herrmann1,2. 1. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. 2. Section of Clinical Bacteriology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. 3. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Laboratory Medicine, Falu Hospital, Falun, Sweden. 4. Centre for Research and Development, Uppsala University/Region Gävleborg, Gävle, Sweden. 5. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ryhov County Hospital, Jönköping, Sweden. 6. University Research Clinic for Cancer Screening, Randers Regional Hospital, Randers, Denmark. 7. Department for Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 8. Bacteria, Parasites & Fungi, Infectious Disease Preparedness, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. 9. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. 10. WHO Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and other STIs, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden. 11. Institute for Global Health, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate what impact the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions had on Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, countries with very different governmental strategies for handling this pandemic. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data collected via requests to Swedish regions and to health authorities in Denmark and Norway. The data were collected for the years 2018-2020 and the data from Sweden were more detailed. RESULTS: When the pandemic restrictions were installed in 2020, the number of reported chlamydia cases decreased. The decline was most pronounced in Norway 10.8% (2019: n = 28,446; 2020: n = 25,444) while it was only 3.1% in Denmark (2019: n = 35,688; 2020: n = 34,689) and 4.3% in Sweden (2019: n = 34,726; 2020: n = 33,339). Nucleic acid amplifications tests for chlamydia decreased in Sweden (10%) and Norway (18%) in 2020 compared to 2019, while in Denmark a 21% decrease was noted in April 2020 but thereafter increased to a higher level than 2019. The number of reported gonorrhoea cases decreased in Sweden (17%) and in Norway (39%) in 2020 compared to 2019, while a 21% increase was noted in Denmark. CONCLUSIONS: Pandemic restrictions had an impact on the number of reported chlamydia infections in all three countries, but only temporarily and did not seem to be correlated to the restriction levels. The number of reported gonorrhoea infections in Sweden and Norway significantly decreased but not in Denmark. Pandemic restrictions appear to have had a limited effect on the spread of chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate what impact the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions had on Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, countries with very different governmental strategies for handling this pandemic. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data collected via requests to Swedish regions and to health authorities in Denmark and Norway. The data were collected for the years 2018-2020 and the data from Sweden were more detailed. RESULTS: When the pandemic restrictions were installed in 2020, the number of reported chlamydia cases decreased. The decline was most pronounced in Norway 10.8% (2019: n = 28,446; 2020: n = 25,444) while it was only 3.1% in Denmark (2019: n = 35,688; 2020: n = 34,689) and 4.3% in Sweden (2019: n = 34,726; 2020: n = 33,339). Nucleic acid amplifications tests for chlamydia decreased in Sweden (10%) and Norway (18%) in 2020 compared to 2019, while in Denmark a 21% decrease was noted in April 2020 but thereafter increased to a higher level than 2019. The number of reported gonorrhoea cases decreased in Sweden (17%) and in Norway (39%) in 2020 compared to 2019, while a 21% increase was noted in Denmark. CONCLUSIONS: Pandemic restrictions had an impact on the number of reported chlamydia infections in all three countries, but only temporarily and did not seem to be correlated to the restriction levels. The number of reported gonorrhoea infections in Sweden and Norway significantly decreased but not in Denmark. Pandemic restrictions appear to have had a limited effect on the spread of chlamydia and gonorrhoea.