Objectives: To report changes in adult hospital admission rates for
acute ENT infections following the introduction of Covid-19-related
physical interventions such as hand washing, use of face mask and social
distancing of 2-metres in the United Kingdom. Design: Retrospective
cohort study comparing a one-year period after the introduction of
Covid-related physical interventions (2020-21) with a one-year period
before this (2019-20). Settings: 3 UK secondary care ENT departments
Participants: Adult patients admitted with acute tonsillitis,
peritonsillar abscess, epiglottitis, glandular fever, peri-orbital
cellulitis, acute otitis media, acute mastoiditis, retropharyngeal
abscess and parapharyngeal abscess. Main outcome measures: Number of
adult hospital admissions Results: In total there were significantly
fewer admissions for ENT infections (n=1073, 57.56%, p<0.001;
RR 2.36, 95% CI [2.17, 2.56]) in the 2020-2021 period than in the
2019-2020 period. There were significant reductions in admissions for
tonsillitis (64.4%; p<0.001), peritonsillar abscess (60.68%;
p<0.001), epiglottitis (66.67%; p<0.001), glandular
fever (38.79%; p=0.001), acute otitis media (26.85%; p=0.01) and
retropharyngeal and/or parapharyngeal abscesses (45.45%; p=0.04)
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates a sizeable reduction in adult
admissions for ENT infections since the introduction of Covid-19-related
physical interventions. There is evidence to support the use of physical
interventions in the prevention of viral transmission of respiratory
disease. Preventing ENT infections requiring admission through simple
physical interventions could be of great benefit to the quality of life
of patients and economical benefit to healthcare systems.
The effect of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on otitis media from 2005 to 2013 in children aged ≤5 years: a retrospective cohort study in two Swedish regions
