Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions targeted at the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of influenza-like illness in the UK Armed Forces.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as lockdown, social distancing and use of face coverings was adopted by the United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces (AF) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assessed the impact of the use of NPIs on the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) in the UK AF.

Methods

A longitudinal study design was adopted, and secondary data was analysed retrospectively. Clinical Read codes for ILI was used to generate data for flu seasons before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2017 to April 2021).

Results

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of reporting ILI was ~ 4% across all flu seasons. The count of ILI was 2.9%, 2.2% and 3.1% during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 flu seasons respectively. During the COVID-19 pan

SUBMITTER: Otieno G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9714820 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature