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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Published in:Acta Dermato-Venereologica
Main Authors: Vesa Mäki-Koivisto, Suvi-Päivikki Sinikumpu, Jari Jokelainen, Elina Aho-Laukkanen, Ilkka S. Junttila, Laura Huilaja
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Medical Journals Sweden 2022
Subjects:
STI
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v102.3401
https://doaj.org/article/d8e2725c4b72418fac79cc8e3e2984d5
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spelling 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
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic pandemic
STI
gonorrhea
chlamydia
COVID-19
Dermatology
RL1-803
spellingShingle 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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