ArticleOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands)2021
Comparable seasonal pattern for COVID-19 and flu-like illnesses.
Article in One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- LSTM-Based Recurrent Neural Network Predicts Influenza-Like-Illness in Variable Climate Zones.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Article
- Estimating Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Health-Related Quality of Life Among Persons Aged 8 Years and Older, August 2020-July 2022.Journal of health economics and outcomes research · 2026Article
- Identification of Statewide Hotspots for Respiratory Disease Targets Using Wastewater Monitoring Data.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Article
- What Lessons can Be Learned From the Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic?International journal of public health · 2025Review
- Article
- Uptake rates and attitudes to influenza and COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy - a prospective cohort study.Irish journal of medical science · 2024Article
- Influence of Seasonality and Public-Health Interventions on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Northern Europe.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- COVID-19 prophylaxis, diagnostics, and treatment in patients with rheumatic diseases. The Polish experts panel opinion.Reumatologia · 2024Article
- Seasonality of endemic COVID-19.mBio · 2023Article
- Period Prevalence of COVID-19 and Influenza Symptoms in 2022 Among Adults in Jazan, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Modeling the Climatic Suitability of COVID-19 Cases in Brazil.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Article
- Etiology, clinical characteristics, and risk factors associated with severe influenza-like illnesses in Mexican adults.IJID regions · 2023Article
- COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and short-term and long-term intentions among unvaccinated young adults: a mixed-method approach.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Seasonality of COVID-19 deaths. Did social restrictions and vaccination actually impact the official reported dynamic of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy?Environmental research · 2022Article
- Environmental factors and mobility predict COVID-19 seasonality in the Netherlands.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Quantitative analysis of the impact of various urban socioeconomic indicators on search-engine-based estimation of COVID-19 prevalence.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2022Article
- UV and violet light can Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity.Journal of photochemistry and photobiology · 2022Article
- COVID-19 pandemic over 2020 (withlockdowns) and 2021 (with vaccinations): similar effects for seasonality and environmental factors.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the first wave of COVID-19 it was hypothesized that COVID-19 is subject to multi-wave seasonality, similar to Influenza-Like Illnesses since time immemorial. One year into the pandemic, we aimed to test the seasonality hypothesis for COVID-19.
methodsWe calculated the average annual time-series for Influenza-Like Illnesses based on incidence data from 2016 till 2019 in the Netherlands, and compared these with two COVID-19 time-series during 2020/2021 for the Netherlands. We plotted the time-series on a standardized logarithmic infection scale. Finally, we calculated correlation coefficients and used univariate regression analysis to estimate the strength of the association between the time-series of COVID-19 and Influenza-Like Illnesses.
resultsThe time-series for COVID-19 and Influenza-Like Illnesses were strongly and highly significantly correlated. The COVID-19 peaks were all during flu season, and lows were all in the opposing period. Finally, COVID-19 meets the multi-wave characteristics of earlier flu-like pandemics, namely a short first wave at the tail-end of a flu season, and a longer and more intense second wave during the subsequent flu season.
conclusionsWe conclude that seasonal patterns of COVID-19 incidence and Influenza-Like Illnesses incidence are highly similar, in a country in the temperate climate zone, such as the Netherlands. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic satisfies the criteria of earlier respiratory pandemics, namely a first wave that is short-lived at the tail-end of flu season, and a second wave that is longer and more severe.This seems to imply that the same factors that are driving the seasonality of Influenza-Like Illnesses are causing COVID-19 seasonality as well, such as solar radiation (UV), temperature, relative humidity, and subsequently seasonal allergens and allergies.
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