The study analysed the incidence of invasive bacterial disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus agalactiae two years before (2018–2019) and during (2020–2021) the pandemic. The stringency of each country’s COVID-19 containment measures was quantified using the Oxford Blavatnik COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Overall, 116,842 cases of invasive disease were analysed in this study: 76,481 pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and 40,360 during the pandemic (2020-2021). The bacterial populations have been disrupted by the pandemic and that might lead to different patterns of bacterial disease in the future. The full paper, 'Trends in invasive bacterial diseases during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of prospective surveillance data from 30 countries and territories in the IRIS Consortium', can be read in The Lancet Digital Health.
