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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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5 2023-05-15T17:42:18+02:00 Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022 Vesa Mäki-Koivisto Suvi-Päivikki Sinikumpu Jari Jokelainen Elina Aho-Laukkanen Ilkka S. Junttila Laura Huilaja 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 https://doaj.org/article/d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5 EN eng Medical Journals Sweden https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actadv/article/view/3401 https://doaj.org/toc/0001-5555 https://doaj.org/toc/1651-2057 doi:10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 0001-5555 1651-2057 https://doaj.org/article/d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5 Acta Dermato-Venereologica, Vol 102 (2022) pandemic STI gonorrhea chlamydia COVID-19 Dermatology RL1-803 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 2022-12-30T20:29:56Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Acta Dermato-Venereologica 102 adv00795 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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pandemic STI gonorrhea chlamydia COVID-19 Dermatology RL1-803 |
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pandemic STI gonorrhea chlamydia COVID-19 Dermatology RL1-803 Vesa Mäki-Koivisto Suvi-Päivikki Sinikumpu Jari Jokelainen Elina Aho-Laukkanen Ilkka S. Junttila Laura Huilaja Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Northern Finland in 2019 to 2022 |
topic_facet |
pandemic STI gonorrhea chlamydia COVID-19 Dermatology RL1-803 |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vesa Mäki-Koivisto Suvi-Päivikki Sinikumpu Jari Jokelainen Elina Aho-Laukkanen Ilkka S. Junttila Laura Huilaja |
author_facet |
Vesa Mäki-Koivisto Suvi-Päivikki Sinikumpu Jari Jokelainen Elina Aho-Laukkanen Ilkka S. Junttila Laura Huilaja |
author_sort |
Vesa Mäki-Koivisto |
title |
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_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_sort |
impact of covid-19 pandemic on the incidence of sexually transmitted infections in northern finland in 2019 to 2022 |
publisher |
Medical Journals Sweden |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 https://doaj.org/article/d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5 |
genre |
Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland |
op_source |
Acta Dermato-Venereologica, Vol 102 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actadv/article/view/3401 https://doaj.org/toc/0001-5555 https://doaj.org/toc/1651-2057 doi:10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 0001-5555 1651-2057 https://doaj.org/article/d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401 |
container_title |
Acta Dermato-Venereologica |
container_volume |
102 |
container_start_page |
adv00795 |
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