Social distancing solves disease --- empirics

Choe et al 20 (Young June Choe*, Bo Young Ryu**, and Hyo Eun Yun. *MD, PhD, Assistant Prof in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine @ Hallym University College of Medicine. **MPH, Division of Infectious Disease Response, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. “Impact of social distancing on incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, South Korea”. Journal of Medical Virology; 93:1814-1816. Published 10/16/20. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/jmv.26614. DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26614. Accessed 7/15/23) //Ulven

In this study, we found a decreased incidence of VPDs since the implementation of social distancing in South Korea in the early half of 2020. Social distancing measures had been practiced since February after a large surge of COVID‐19 cases. There was no draconian restriction of the movement, and all measures were either voluntary‐based or administrative sanction‐based actions. The Korean education system postponed the start of the new school year in March. In the setting of loosening the social distancing in May, elementary, middle, and high schools have reopened stepwisely. All public and private places were mandated to follow the infection control policies and guidance. It is important to note that the vaccination coverage has sustained fairly during the observed period. Compared to January and March 2019, the vaccination coverages in 2020 were comparable for hepatitis B (3rd dose, 94.6% in 2019 vs. 94.1% in 2020), DTaP (3rd dose, 92.1% in 2019 vs. 91.4% in 2020), pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (4th dose, 89.9% in 2019 vs. 88.8% in 2020), MMR (2nd dose, 94.8% in 2019 vs. 92.9% in 2020), and hepatitis A (2nd dose, 93.8% in 2019 vs. 94.9% in 2020) vaccines, which were provided in both private and public healthcare services.4 The decrease in incidence of the VPDs since February seemed to have a public significance that the social distancing had a positive impact on preventing transmission of communicable diseases. During the same period, a decrease in influenza activity was reported which was likely to be affected by social distancing, showing the impact of social distancing on the spread of influenza virus.5 Sustained immunization rate in South Korea has been maintained above a certain level despite the shutdown of healthcare systems and the decline of health‐seeking behavior due to social distancing, has likely to have additive effects on a decline of the VPD incidences.