Observational studyBMJ open2021
Invasive pneumococcal disease, pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the preceding 5 years: a retrospective observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multiplex real-time PCR in non-invasive respiratory samples to reduce antibiotic use in community-acquired pneumonia: a randomised trial.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Association between introduction of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and burden of hospitalized adult pneumococcal disease in Hong Kong - A retrospective database study.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Pneumococcal carriage and disease in adults hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia in Mongolia: prospective pneumonia surveillance program (2019-2022).Pneumonia (Nathan Qld.) · 2025Article
- All-Cause and Pneumococcal Community-Acquired Pneumonia Hospitalizations Among Adults in Tennessee and Georgia.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- The Indirect Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mortality, Complications, and Healthcare Utilization Among Patients With Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Hong Kong: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Article
- Pneumococcal Vaccine Uptake in Adults Before and After Hospitalization for Pneumococcal Infections in Hong Kong, 2015 to 2024.Vaccines · 2025Article
- Changes in the incidence, viral coinfection pattern and outcomes of pneumococcal hospitalizations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Pneumonia (Nathan Qld.) · 2025Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Herpes Zoster: A Narrative Literature Review.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2024Review
- Increase in complicated upper respiratory tract infection in children during the 2022/2023 winter season-a post coronavirus disease 2019 effect?Pediatric radiology · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on severe non-SARS-CoV-2 community-acquired pneumonia in Reunion Island: a multicenter retrospective observational study, 2016-2021.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Viral, Bacterial, and Fungal Respiratory Infections.Clinics in chest medicine · 2023Review
- Changes in the Incidence of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Calgary, Canada, during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic 2020-2022.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Changes in all-cause and cause-specific excess mortality before and after the Omicron outbreak of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on community respiratory virus activity.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Review
- Effect of Protective Measures Adopted in the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hemodialysis Patients.Cureus · 2023Article
- Changes in Etiology and Clinical Outcomes of Pleural empyema during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Decreased Antibiotic Consumption Coincided with Reduction in Bacteremia Caused by Bacterial Species with Respiratory Transmission Potential during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Changing Epidemiology of Respiratory Tract Infection during COVID-19 Pandemic.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo compare the incidence and severity of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs), pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic period with universal masking and social distancing with that of previous 5 years.
designRetrospective observational study on incidence of IPDs, pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia between January 2015-December 2019 and March 2020-March 2021. January-February 2020 was excluded from analysis as it was treated as a transitional period between normal time and pandemic.
settingEpisode-based data by retrieval of hospitalisation records from the Hospital Authority's territory-wide electronic medical record database in Hong Kong.
participantsHospitalised patients with IPD (n=742), pneumococcal pneumonia (n=2163) and all-cause pneumonia (including COVID-19 pneumonia, n=453 999) aged 18 years or above. Control diagnoses were included to assess confounding from health-seeking behaviours. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Primary outcome is the incidence of diseases between two periods. Secondary outcomes include disease severity surrogated by length of stay and mortality.
resultsMonthly average number of IPD, pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia hospitalisation significantly decreased by 88.9% (95% CI 79.8% to 98.0%, p<0.0005), 72.5% (95% CI 65.9% to 79.1%, p<0.0005) and 17.5% (95% CI 16.8% to 18.2%, p<0.0005), respectively. Changes in trend from January 2015-December 2019 to March 2020-March 2021 were -70% (95% CI -87% to -35%, p=0.0025), -43% (95% CI -59% to -19%, p=0.0014) and -11% (95% CI -13% to -10%, p<0.0005), respectively. Length of stay for IPD and pneumococcal pneumonia episodes were insignificantly different in the two periods. No reductions in hospitalisations for control diagnoses were observed.
conclusionsIncidence of IPD, pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was observed with universal masking and social distancing. We postulated this is related to reduced transmission of respiratory viruses and bacteria.
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