Pediatr Infect Vaccine.  2021 Dec;28(3):144-148. 10.14776/piv.2021.28.e20.

Decrease in Incidence of Febrile Seizure following Social Distancing Measures: A National Cohort Study in South Korea

• Park KH
• Choe YJ
• Shim Y
• Eun BL
• Byeon JH

• KMID: 2549062
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14776/piv.2021.28.e20

Abstract

Purpose
Nonpharmaceutical measures, such as social distancing, have resulted in unintended consequences, including a decrease in the incidence of childhood diseases. This study aimed to estimate the impact of social distancing on the incidence of febrile seizure (FS) in Korea using nationally representative data.
Methods
We used claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, a single-payer database capturing >95% of the Korean population. The database included any inpatient encounter with a FS diagnosis from January 2010 to September 2020 for those aged 0-5 years old. We aggregated the monthly number of cases to estimate the incidence per 100,000 patient-years in 2020 (January 1 to September 30) for the same periods in 2010–2019.
Results
The incidence of FS in 2020 ranged from 113 per 100,000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 108–118 per 100,000) in January to 27 per 100,000 (95% CI, 25–30 per 100,000) in September, whereas the average FS incidence in 2010–2019 ranged from 116 per 100,000 (95% CI, 112–121 per 100,000) in January to 101 per 100,000 (95% CI, 97–106 per 100,000) in September.
Conclusions
The incidence of FS decreased by −38% in 2020, suggesting that social distancing contributed towards decreasing the incidence of FS.

Keyword

Fever; Seizure; Convulsion; Pandemics