Estimating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on infectious disease notifications in Klang district, Malaysia, 2020–2022

Authors

  • Vivek Jason Jayaraj Sector for Biostatistics and Data Repository, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8131-9878
  • Diane Woei-Quan Chong Institute for Health Systems Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Faridah Binti Jafri Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Nur Adibah Binti Mat Saruan Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Gurpreet Kaur Karpal Singh Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Ravinkanth Perumal Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Shakirah Binti Jamaludin Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Juvina Binti Mohd Janurudin Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • Siti Rohana Binti Saad Klang District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Putrajaya, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2025.16.1.1097

Keywords:

SARS-CoV-2, disease notification, public health surveillance, non-pharmaceutical interventions, infectious disease transmission

Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted disease surveillance systems globally, leading to reduced notifications of other infectious diseases. This study aims to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the infectious disease surveillance system in Klang district, Selangor state, Malaysia.

Methods: Data on notifiable diseases from 2014 to 2022 were sourced from the Klang District Health Office. The 11 diseases with more than 100 notifications each were included in the study. For these 11 diseases, a negative binomial regression model was used to explore the effect of the pandemic on case notifications and registrations by year, and a quasi-Poisson regression model was used to explore the changes by week.

Results: The results showed a reduction in the number of notifications and registrations for all 11 diseases combined during the pandemic compared with previous years. Changes between expected and observed notifications by week were heterogeneous across the diseases.

Discussion: These findings suggest that restrictive public health and social measures in Klang district may have impacted the transmission of other infectious diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. The differential impact of the pandemic on disease notifications and reporting highlights the large ancillary effects of restrictive public health and social measures and the importance of building resilience into infectious disease surveillance systems.

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Published

27-01-2025

How to Cite

1.
Jayaraj VJ, Chong DW-Q, Jafri FB, Saruan NABM, Singh GKK, Perumal R, Jamaludin SB, Janurudin JBM, Saad SRB. Estimating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on infectious disease notifications in Klang district, Malaysia, 2020–2022. Western Pac Surveill Response J [Internet]. 2025 Jan. 27 [cited 2026 Apr. 15];16(1). Available from: https://ojs.wpro.who.int/ojs/index.php/wpsar/article/view/1097

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2025): January – March

Section

Original Research

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