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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic led to major restrictions in daily life and social contacts in Finland in March 2020. The effect of these restrictions on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence and positive rates of sexuall...

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Autores principales: MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa, SINIKUMPU, Suvi-Päivikki, JOKELAINEN, Jari, AHO-LAUKKANEN, Elina, JUNTTILA, Ilkka S., HUILAJA, Laura
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9677277/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36200507
http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401
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author MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa
SINIKUMPU, Suvi-Päivikki
JOKELAINEN, Jari
AHO-LAUKKANEN, Elina
JUNTTILA, Ilkka S.
HUILAJA, Laura
author_facet MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa
SINIKUMPU, Suvi-Päivikki
JOKELAINEN, Jari
AHO-LAUKKANEN, Elina
JUNTTILA, Ilkka S.
HUILAJA, Laura
author_sort MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa
collection PubMed
description The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic led to major restrictions in daily life and social contacts in Finland in March 2020. The effect of these restrictions on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence and positive rates of sexually transmitted infections in Northern Finland between 2020 and 2021 and compare these with the years prior to the pandemic. Numbers of positive Chlamydia trachomatis, HIV and hepatitis C samples were lower in 2020 to 2021 than in previous years, whereas more gonorrhoea and syphilis was found during pandemic than in previous years. The number of new cases of C. trachomatis reported each month decreased in the first months of the pandemic, but exceeded the prior pandemic-level in autumn 2020. When the mean positive sample rates were compared with the years 2015 to 2019, there was a significant decrease in positive C. trachomatis (p < 0.001) and hepatitis C (p < 0.001) sample rates in both 2020 and 2021. The positive rates for Treponema pallidum in 2020 did not differ significantly (p = 0.38) from previous years. In conclusion, these results show that sexually transmitted infections occurred despite recommendations for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, easy access to STI testing should always be available, even during exceptional circumstances.
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spelling pubmed-96772772022-11-22 Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022 MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa SINIKUMPU, Suvi-Päivikki JOKELAINEN, Jari AHO-LAUKKANEN, Elina JUNTTILA, Ilkka S. HUILAJA, Laura Acta Derm Venereol Original Article The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic led to major restrictions in daily life and social contacts in Finland in March 2020. The effect of these restrictions on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence and positive rates of sexually transmitted infections in Northern Finland between 2020 and 2021 and compare these with the years prior to the pandemic. Numbers of positive Chlamydia trachomatis, HIV and hepatitis C samples were lower in 2020 to 2021 than in previous years, whereas more gonorrhoea and syphilis was found during pandemic than in previous years. The number of new cases of C. trachomatis reported each month decreased in the first months of the pandemic, but exceeded the prior pandemic-level in autumn 2020. When the mean positive sample rates were compared with the years 2015 to 2019, there was a significant decrease in positive C. trachomatis (p < 0.001) and hepatitis C (p < 0.001) sample rates in both 2020 and 2021. The positive rates for Treponema pallidum in 2020 did not differ significantly (p = 0.38) from previous years. In conclusion, these results show that sexually transmitted infections occurred despite recommendations for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, easy access to STI testing should always be available, even during exceptional circumstances. Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica 2022-10-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9677277/ /pubmed/36200507 http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 Text en © 2022 Acta Dermato-Venereologica https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license
spellingShingle Original Article
MÄKI-KOIVISTO, Vesa
SINIKUMPU, Suvi-Päivikki
JOKELAINEN, Jari
AHO-LAUKKANEN, Elina
JUNTTILA, Ilkka S.
HUILAJA, Laura
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title_full Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title_fullStr Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title_full_unstemmed Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title_short Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022
title_sort impact of covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of sexually transmitted infections in northern finland in 2019 to 2022
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9677277/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36200507
http://dx.doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401
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