Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have had a global impact, leading to a set of public health and social measures (PHSMs). These measures—such as hand hygiene, mask wearing, and social distancing—have affected people’s behavior and thus led to change in the transmission of infectious diseases. Studies of the impact of the opportunistic implementation of PHSMs on infectious diseases including respiratory virus infections during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been reported. For example, seasonal influenza epidemics, sexual transmitted infections, and pediatric infectious diseases decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic developed, PHSMs were released in some countries, and fully lifted in others. There are limited studies on the impact of relaxing PHSMs on the prediction of infectious disease transmission after relaxing PHSMs (i.e., post COVID-19 period). Predicting the possible epidemic in the upcoming post-COVID-19 season is significant for epidemic preparedness, provides useful information on public health decision-making policies and enables policy makers to prepare public health and medical resources. This research topic will provide us with the meaningful lessons learned from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and map out new landscapes of the importance of PHSMs on various infectious diseases including COVID-19 in community settings across the globe.
In this topic, we welcome the submissions of studies including, but not limited to, impact assessment of the implementation/relaxation of PHSMs for COVID-19 pandemic on changes of infectious disease epidemiology, short or long term prediction of the future burden of infectious diseases after relaxing the PHSMs, and human immunity to infectious disease after relaxing the PHSMs. We also welcome original research using qualitative, quantitative, meta-analyses. or systematic reviews, and various types of study including brief research report, perspective, general commentary, methods, and policy brief.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have had a global impact, leading to a set of public health and social measures (PHSMs). These measures—such as hand hygiene, mask wearing, and social distancing—have affected people’s behavior and thus led to change in the transmission of infectious diseases. Studies of the impact of the opportunistic implementation of PHSMs on infectious diseases including respiratory virus infections during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been reported. For example, seasonal influenza epidemics, sexual transmitted infections, and pediatric infectious diseases decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic developed, PHSMs were released in some countries, and fully lifted in others. There are limited studies on the impact of relaxing PHSMs on the prediction of infectious disease transmission after relaxing PHSMs (i.e., post COVID-19 period). Predicting the possible epidemic in the upcoming post-COVID-19 season is significant for epidemic preparedness, provides useful information on public health decision-making policies and enables policy makers to prepare public health and medical resources. This research topic will provide us with the meaningful lessons learned from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and map out new landscapes of the importance of PHSMs on various infectious diseases including COVID-19 in community settings across the globe.
In this topic, we welcome the submissions of studies including, but not limited to, impact assessment of the implementation/relaxation of PHSMs for COVID-19 pandemic on changes of infectious disease epidemiology, short or long term prediction of the future burden of infectious diseases after relaxing the PHSMs, and human immunity to infectious disease after relaxing the PHSMs. We also welcome original research using qualitative, quantitative, meta-analyses. or systematic reviews, and various types of study including brief research report, perspective, general commentary, methods, and policy brief.