Health agency: Spread of infectious diseases down last year, thanks to Covid measures

2021 saw fewer infectious diseases spreading among the Czech public than in the previous year, according to November data from the National Institute of Public Health. For example, cases of hepatitis B and chickenpox fell in year-on-year terms. Infectious diseases have been spreading slower in the past two years, when compared to pre-pandemic data. Epidemiologists believe that this is due to counter-epidemic measures and limitations on social contact.

However, the spread of some infections did still rise in the past year, for example of the respiratory syncytial virus (RS) and gut infections.

Dr Daniel Dražan from the Czech Vaccinology Society told Czech Radio that it is highly likely that infections will return to their normal rate of spread once counter-epidemic measures are eased and social interactions brought back to normal.