Did social distancing measures deployed for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 control have an impact on invasive meningococcal disease?

Paola Stefanelli; Cecilia Fazio; Paola Vacca; Arianna Neri; Luigina Ambrosio; Giovanni Rezza

doi:10.1080/20477724.2021.1995657

Did social distancing measures deployed for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 control have an impact on invasive meningococcal disease?

Pathog Glob Health. 2022 Jun;116(4):263-265. doi: 10.1080/20477724.2021.1995657. Epub 2021 Nov 30.

Authors

Paola Stefanelli¹, Cecilia Fazio¹, Paola Vacca¹, Arianna Neri¹, Luigina Ambrosio¹, Giovanni Rezza²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
² Health Prevention Directorate, Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

We investigated the impact of social distancing measures, used to contain or mitigate SARS-CoV-2 spread, on the transmission of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Italy. To this end, the temporal correlation between the implementation of lockdown measures in 2020 and IMD incidence was evaluated. A dramatic decline of IMD incidence was observed, suggesting that the measures applied to contain SARS-CoV-2 in Italy affected other infectious diseases transmitted through direct contact and droplets, at least in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Lockdown; SARS-CoV-2; control measures; invasive meningococcal disease; social distancing.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Meningococcal Infections* / epidemiology
Meningococcal Infections* / prevention & control
Pandemics / prevention & control
Physical Distancing
SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.