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This study aimed to investigate the change in the incidence and variance of otorhinolaryngologic diseases during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The entire Korean population (~50 million) was evaluated for the monthly incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases of upper respiratory infection (URI), influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, stomatitis and related lesions, acute sinusitis, rhinitis, otitis media, and dizziness from January 2018 through March 2021 using the International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes with the data of the Korea National Health Insurance Service. The differences in the mean incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases before and during COVID-19 were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. The differences in the variance of incidence before and during COVID-19 were compared using Levene's test. The incidence of all 11 otorhinolaryngologic diseases was lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 (all p < 0.05). The variations in disease incidence by season were lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 for infectious diseases, including URI, influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, acute sinusitis, and otitis media (all p < 0.05), while it was not in noninfectious diseases, including stomatitis, rhinitis, and dizziness. As expected, the incidences of all otorhinolalryngolgic diseases were decreased. Additionally, we found that seasonal variations in infectious diseases disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, while noninfectious diseases did not.

Objectives: Acute laryngitis is a common disease with self-limiting nature. Since the leading cause is attributed to viral infections and thus self-limiting, many affected individuals do not seek professional medical help. However, because the major symptom of hoarseness imposes a substantial burden in everyday life, it might be speculated that web-based search interest on this condition follows incidence rates, with highest peaks during winter months. The aim of this study was to evaluate global public health-information seeking behaviour on laryngitis-related search terms., Methods: We utilized Google Trends to assess country-specific, representative laryngitis-related search terms for English and non-English speaking countries of both hemispheres. Extracted time series data from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, covering a timeframe between 2004 and 2019 were first assessed for reliability, followed by seasonality analysis using the cosinor model., Results: Direct comparisons revealed different, representative laryngitis-related search terms for English- and non-English speaking countries. Extracted data showed a trend of higher reliability in countries with more inhabitants. Subsequent graphical analysis revealed winter peaks in all countries from both hemispheres. Cosinor analysis confirmed these seasonal variations to be significant (all P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Public interest in laryngitis-related, online health information displayed seasonal variations in countries from both hemispheres, with highest interest during winter months. These findings emphasize the importance to optimize the distribution of reliable, web-based health education in order to prevent the spread of misinformation and to improve health literacy among general populations., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To improve the diagnosis of laryngeal disease in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)., Material and Methods: 171 patients (89 (52%) men, 82 (48%) women) with non-erosive (39 (23%) people) and erosive (132 (77%) people) forms of GERD were examined. None of the patients made active complaints about the condition of the larynx and pharynx. The examination included a questionnaire, examination by an otorhinolaryngologist, and videoendolaryngoscopy., Results: The survey revealed the presence of symptoms of otorhinolaryngological pathology in 74% of patients. Videolaryngoscopy revealed no laryngeal pathology in 55 (32%) patients, and signs of GERD-associated laryngitis were detected in 116 (68%) patients. The most common pathology was pachydermia in interarytenoid region - in 89 people, laryngeal granuloma was detected in 7 patients, leukoplakia - in 2 patients, chronic edematous polypous laryngitis - in 2 patients, benign laryngeal formations - in 9 patients. In patients with GERD (erosive and non-erosive forms), an asymptomatic course of chronic laryngitis associated with this pathology was observed in 44% of cases. In 52% of patients, pachydermia in interarytenoid region was diagnosed, of which every second had pronounced hyperplasia and folding of the mucous membrane in interarytenoid region, which must be differentiated from laryngeal cancer (in this case, patients should be under the dynamic supervision of an otorhinolaryngologist). Other precancerous formations of the larynx (granulomas and leukoplakia) were found in 5% of patients. Benign neoplasms of the larynx (polyps and cysts) were also detected in 5% of cases., Conclusions: Despite the high frequency of detection of otorhinolaryngological diseases in the examined patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, none of the patients presented complaints related to the pathology of the larynx, which indicates the need for active detection of this pathology in this category of patients by questioning, questioning, as well as examination by an otorhinolaryngologist.

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of social distancing resulting from COVID-19 in hospitalizations for infections of the upper airways (URTI), such as acute laryngitis, tracheitis, and otitis media in children aged 0 to 9 years in Brazil, considering that they share the same forms of transmission., Methods: Data on hospitalizations for acute airway changes and their complications in children <9 years old were obtained from the Database of the Brazilian Department of Public Health Informatics for the period 2015 to 2020. These data were also analyzed by macroregions of Brazil (North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Midwest). The effect of the social distancing strategy on the increase of acute laryngitis, tracheitis, otitis media, and mastitis, as absolute and relative reductions, was calculated by analyzing the annual calculation of 2015-2019 vs 2020., Results: All the hospitalizations compared in the Unified Health System (SUS) for laryngitis and acute tracheitis and otitis media decreased, considering all states of Brazil. The largest reduction in hospitalization reduction was in the North, with -94% in 2015-2019 vs 2020 in cases of laryngitis and acute tracheitis, and in the Midwest, with - 85% in 2015-2019 vs 2020 in cases of otitis media., Conclusion: Hospitalizations for laryngitis, acute tracheitis, and acute otitis media in children <9 years old decreased between March and July 2020 in Brazil, when social distancing measures were adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Whether herpes zoster infection (HZI) affects laryngitis incidence remains unknown., Objective: The purpose of this population-based retrospective study was to analyze the relationship between laryngitis and HZI using data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Sample Cohort., Methods: This study analyzed 1,197,093 medical claim codes from 2018. Patients with HZI (ICD-10: B02) were retrospectively identified. Laryngeal diseases were defined by ICD-10 codes for five subgroups: 1) malignant disease, 2) benign disease, 3) vocal cord palsy, 4) inflammatory disease, and 5) reflux disease., Results: Among the Korean population older than 20 years, 12,809 experienced HZI. Subjects with HZI were more likely to be older (mean age: 51.54 years vs. 48.06 years, p <0.0001). The proportion of subjects with laryngeal disease was higher in those with HZI than in those without HZI (55.55% vs. 41.37%, p <0.0001). Laryngeal disease was significantly associated with HZI in multiple regression analysis (odds ratio (OR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval: 1.71-1.84) after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, ischemic heart disease, cerebral stroke, and depression. Among laryngeal disease subgroups, inflammatory disease (OR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.09) and reflux (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.15-1.25) were associated with HZI., Conclusions: HZI is independently associated with laryngitis. Results of this study have implications for etiological investigations and prevention strategies for laryngitis., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interest.