key: cord-1022868-7vohavqm
authors: Chang, Seokyoung; Ryu, Sukhyun; Kim, Dasom; Chun, Byung Chul
title: Decrease in the incidence of chlamydia infection during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
date: 2021-06-04
journal: Sex Transm Infect
DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2021-055074
sha: f74b689dd6260042e67ed66067f7f379b7618977
doc_id: 1022868
cord_uid: 7vohavqm

nan

To identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on chlamydia infection in South Korea, we assessed the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for three different periods (epidemiological weeks 4-19, 20-33 and 34-46) using the weekly number of chlamydia infections between January 2018 and December 2020 from Korean national surveillance (figure 1). 1 During the early pandemic period, overall incidence was similar to the previous 2 years (2018/2019); however, overall reduction was estimated to be 15%-30%, with a larger impact in males in the latter pandemic period.

The IRR decreased during period 2 in young adult males inside the Seoul Capital Area, possibly affected by COVID-19 outbreak from a nightclub in Seoul. The IRR largely decreased in males and females inside the Seoul Capital Area during period 3, likely caused by the ban on adult entertainment sector inside the Seoul Capital Area (from 18 August 2020 to 12 October 2020). 2 

Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. COVID-19 update