Observational studyBMC infectious diseases2025
Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trend of seasonal influenza in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Observational study in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Increased respiratory pathogen positivity and diversity in hospitalized children following the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia.New microbes and new infections · 2026Article
- Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 nonpharmaceutical interventions on influenza epidemiology: A retrospective analysis in Hebei Province, China from 2019 to 2023.The Journal of international medical research · 2026Article
- Article
- A hybrid STL-LightGBM framework with probabilistic forecasting for Influenza A incidence in the post-pandemic Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the transmission dynamics of respiratory viruses globally. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 related NPIs on the trends of seasonal influenza in the Jazan region of southern Saudi Arabia.
methodsA retrospective observational study was conducted from January 2017 to December 2023. Data on laboratory-confirmed cases of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 were obtained from the Saudi Ministry of Health databases. The analysis compared influenza activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on incidence fluctuations, demographic characteristics, and the timing relative to the implementation and relaxation of NPIs.
resultsInfluenza cases declined from 449 in 2020 to 46 in 2021 (p < 0.001) during periods of strict NPI enforcement before rebounding to 430 in 2022 and 1,001 in 2023 (p < 0.001). COVID-19 cases peaked between 2020 and 2022 and showed a significant inverse correlation to influenza activity (p < 0.001). Influenza predominantly affected Saudis (88.7%) versus non-Saudis (11.3%) (p < 0.001), while COVID-19 cases were mainly among Saudis (84.3%) (p < 0.001). Age and gender distributions showed significant shifts post-NPI relaxation (p < 0.01), with influenza affecting 5-14-year-olds and 25-64-year-olds more prominently, and a gender shift from male to balanced or female predominance in recent years (p < 0.05).
conclusionCOVID-19 NPIs substantially reduced seasonal influenza transmission in the Jazan region. These findings highlight the collateral benefits of public health measures during pandemics and suggest that continued surveillance and targeted NPIs can be valuable in controlling seasonal influenza. Future strategies should integrate influenza vaccination campaigns with pandemic preparedness plans, considering regional specificities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.