# Trends in Nationally Notifiable Infectious Diseases in Humans and Animals during COVID-19 Pandemic, South Korea

## TL;DR

This study examines how nonpharmaceutical interventions during the pandemic affected infectious disease trends in South Korea, showing mixed results across different disease types.

## Contribution

The study quantifies the impact of NPIs on various infectious diseases in humans and animals, revealing differential effectiveness.

## Key findings

- Human respiratory diseases decreased by 54.7% after NPIs were introduced.
- Gastrointestinal diseases and livestock diseases showed similar or higher incidence post-NPIs.
- Medical expenses for non-COVID respiratory infections dropped by 3.8% in 2020 and 18.9% in 2021.

## Abstract

We investigated trends in notifiable infectious diseases in both humans and animals during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea and compared those data against expected trends had nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) not been implemented. We found that human respiratory infectious diseases other than COVID-19 decreased by an average of 54.7% after NPIs were introduced. On the basis of that trend, we estimated that annual medical expenses associated with respiratory infections other than COVID-19 also decreased by 3.8% in 2020 and 18.9% in 2021. However, human gastrointestinal infectious diseases and livestock diseases exhibited similar or even higher incidence rates after NPIs were instituted. Our investigation revealed that the preventive effect of NPIs varied among diseases and that NPIs might have had limited effectiveness in reducing the spread of certain types of infectious diseases. These findings suggest the need for future, novel public health interventions to compensate for such limitations.