ArticleBMJ open2022
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gastrointestinal infection trends in England, February-July 2020.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early Detection and Monitoring of Gastrointestinal Infections Using Syndromic Surveillance: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A comprehensive review of foodborne disease burden associated with protein foods: a 13-year evaluation of incidence and outbreaks in high-income countries.Italian journal of food safety · 2026Article
- Gastrointestinal pathogens in paediatric patients with diarrhoea during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: a multicentre molecular-based prospective study.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Giardiasis in Japan, the United States of America, and Europe from 2007 to 2023, highlighting a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Nationwide hospitalization rates for salmonellosis in Chile, 2021-2024: A retrospective study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Review
- Salmonellosis Among Children Aged 0-14 Years in Greece over the Period 2005-2024: Descriptive Analysis of Surveillance Data from the Mandatory Notification System.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Increasing community vulnerability to gastrointestinal infections in austerity's shadow: a comparative study of two English local authorities.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Estimating wastewater concentrations of norovirus and rotavirus from global data on community-level infection prevalence and viral shedding.Journal of water and health · 2026Article
- Mind the gap! TypingMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- The Third Study of Infectious Intestinal Disease (IID3 Study) in the Community: Protocol for UK-Based Prospective Cohort Studies Investigating the Disease Burden.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Public health surveillance ofJournal of medical microbiology · 2026Article
- Assessment of childhood disease patterns in outpatient settings: a retrospective study from 2016 to 2020.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and typhoid conjugate vaccine introduction on typhoid fever in Nepal.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- The Eat-Out-to-Help-Out incentive: A trigger for gastrointestinal infections in England, 2020?Epidemiology and infection · 2025Article
- Rising rates of sepsis in England: an ecological study.Infection · 2025Article
- Women's experiences of the assessment and management of urinary tract infections during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative analysis of free-text comments from a national survey in England.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- Establishing and validating syndromic surveillance of gastrointestinal infections using routine emergency department data, Germany, 2019-2023.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Global Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Gastrointestinal Infections: A Scoping Review.Foodborne pathogens and disease · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on five food- and waterborne diseases in six European countries, 2016-21.European journal of public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo establish the impact of the first 6 months of the COVID-19 outbreak response on gastrointestinal (GI) infection trends in England.
designRetrospective ecological study using routinely collected national and regional surveillance data from seven UK Health Security Agency coordinated laboratory, outbreak and syndromic surveillance systems using key dates of UK governmental policy change to assign phases for comparison between 2020 and historic data.
resultsDecreases in GI illness activity were observed across all surveillance indicators as COVID-19 cases began to peak. Compared with the 5-year average (2015-2019), during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 response, there was a 52% decrease in GI outbreaks reported (1544 vs 3208 (95% CI 2938 to 3478)) and a 34% decrease in laboratory confirmed cases (27 859 vs 42 495 (95% CI 40 068 to 44 922)). GI indicators began to rise during the first lockdown and lockdown easing, although all remained substantially lower than historic figures. Reductions in laboratory confirmed cases were observed across all age groups and both sexes, with geographical heterogeneity observed in diagnosis trends. Health seeking behaviour changed substantially, with attendances decreasing prior to lockdown across all indicators.
conclusionsThere has been a marked change in trends of GI infections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drivers of this change are likely to be multifactorial; while changes in health seeking behaviour, pressure on diagnostic services and surveillance system ascertainment have undoubtably played a role, there has likely been a true decrease in the incidence for some pathogens resulting from the control measures and restrictions implemented. This suggests that if some of these changes in behaviour such as improved hand hygiene were maintained, then we could potentially see sustained reductions in the burden of GI illness.
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