Differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on laboratory reporting of norovirus and Campylobacter in England: A modelling approach

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 8; p. e0256638
• Main Authors: Ondrikova, Nikola, Clough, Helen E, Douglas, Amy, Iturriza-Gomara, Miren, Larkin, Lesley, Vivancos, Roberto, Harris, John P, Cunliffe, Nigel A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 25.08.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Air temperature; Biology and life sciences; Campylobacter; Control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Epidemics; Food contamination & poisoning; Health surveillance; Identification and classification; Infection control; Infections; Infectious diseases; Influence; Laboratories; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Norovirus; Pandemics; Pathogens; Practice; Prevention; Public health; Reduction; Research and Analysis Methods; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Trends; United Kingdom; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; England
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256638
• ISSN: 1932-6203

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted surveillance activities for multiple pathogens. Since March 2020, there was a decline in the number of reports of norovirus and Campylobacter recorded by England's national laboratory surveillance system. The aim is to estimate and compare the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on norovirus and Campylobacter surveillance data in England. We utilised two quasi-experimental approaches based on a generalised linear model for sequential count data. The first approach estimates overall impact and the second approach focuses on the impact of specific elements of the pandemic response (COVID-19 diagnostic testing and control measures). The following time series (27, 2015-43, 2020) were used: weekly laboratory-confirmed norovirus and Campylobacter reports, air temperature, conducted Sars-CoV-2 tests and Index of COVID-19 control measures stringency. The period of Sars-CoV-2 emergence and subsequent sustained transmission was associated with persistent reductions in norovirus laboratory reports (p = 0.001), whereas the reductions were more pronounced during pandemic emergence and later recovered for Campylobacter (p = 0.075). The total estimated reduction was 47% - 79% for norovirus (12-43, 2020). The total reduction varied by time for Campylobacter, e.g. 19% - 33% in April, 1% - 7% in August. Laboratory reporting of norovirus was more adversely impacted than Campylobacter by the COVID-19 pandemic. This may be partially explained by a comparatively stronger effect of behavioural interventions on norovirus transmission and a relatively greater reduction in norovirus testing capacity. Our study underlines the differential impact a pandemic may have on surveillance of gastrointestinal infectious diseases.