COVID-19 Policies and Sexually Transmitted Infections in 22 US States, January 2020–December 2021
<b>Objectives.</b> To quantify the effects of 5 jurisdiction-level COVID-19 policies on chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis rates in 22 US jurisdictions between January 2020 and December 2021. <b>Methods.</b> We applied a mixed-effects, negative binomial, interrupted time series model to estimate the impact that each policy of interest had on reported cases. <b>Results.</b> Mandatory stay-at-home periods were associated with a decrease in reported chlamydia (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.71, 0.80) and gonorrhea (IRR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.78, 0.94) cases. We also observed decreased chlamydia case reporting when gatherings were restricted to 10 people (IRR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.85, 0.92), masking was recommended (IRR = 0.90; 95% CI = 0.85, 0.97), or polymerase chain reaction testing was limited to symptomatic individuals (IRR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.67, 0.77). Universal vaccine access corresponded to decreases in reported gonorrhea (IRR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.75, 0.92) but increases in syphilis (IRR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.70) cases. We also observed effects by sex, race, and ethnicity. <b>Conclusions.</b> COVID-19 policies had disparate effects on sexually transmitted infection rates that varied across demographic groups. Overall results were attenuated after the first lockdown period (March-May 2020), but demographic variations persisted. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2025;115(5):789-798. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307957).
Authors
- Yukari Carol Manabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8619-5598)
- Collin M. Timm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7804-5044)
- Catherine C. Pollack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7434-5306)
- Georgia H. Redd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6860-3638)
Institutions
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- American Journal of Public Health
- Published
- 2025-02-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2024.307957
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and healthcare impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.14