Impact of non-pharmacological interventions on incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large population-based observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly prevalent and contagious disease, particularly in children under five years old. Its transmission route resembles that of COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were implemented to curb viral spread, which may have concurrently reduced HFMD incidence.

Methods

Utilizing HFMD surveillance data from the Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2015-2020) and varying levels of COVID-19 emergency measures, a Bayesian structural time series model predicted the counterfactual HFMD incidence and quantified the causal relationships with NPIs.

Results

During the implementation of NPIs, the 915 cases observed between weeks 4 and 20 of 2020 reflected a 94.9% red

SUBMITTER: Ma W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11600608 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature