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

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

Paola Stefanelli  1 , Cecilia Fazio  1 , Paola Vacca  1 , Arianna Neri  1 , Luigina Ambrosio  1 , Giovanni Rezza  2
Affiliations

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

Paola Stefanelli et al. Pathog Glob Health. 2022 Jun.

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of Invasive Meningococcal Diseases reported by month in Italy in 2019 and in 2020.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Incidence of Invasive Meningococcal Diseases by year, 2015–2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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