Data from last year’s disease registry published by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) showed that the Covid pandemic continued to slow the spread of several infectious diseases, and fewer respiratory infections in particular were reported.
The data revealed that in 2021, significantly fewer laboratory-confirmed cases of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma were detected, both of which cause symptoms of a respiratory infection.
There was no epidemic during the influenza period 2020-2021, only isolated findings of the disease. This was also the case in the autumn of 2021, although in December 2021 the number of influenza cases increased slightly.
"During the Covid pandemic, the diagnosis of respiratory infections was mainly focused on Covid. Therefore, it is possible that other respiratory infections have gone undetected as a result. In addition, the recommendations and restrictions related to the Covid pandemic have prevented the spread of other respiratory infections," said Tuula Hannila-HandelbergTHL Chief Physician, in press release.
Lyme disease is a concern
The number of cases of tick-borne encephalitis has been increasing since 2019. Last year, a total of 151 cases were reported, compared with 91 the previous year. In the spring of 2022, the tick-borne encephalitis vaccination program was extended to new areas in Kirkkonummi and Lohja.
In 2021, fewer bacteria causing the most common intestinal infections were detected than in previous years, including Salmonella. THL estimates that this was due to reduced travel.
Doctors and laboratories report infectious disease findings to the THL disease registry. In 2021, 579,000 notifications were made, of which nearly 425,000 related to Covid.
Source: The Nordic Page