The pattern of notifiable infectious diseases in Iraq

The year 2020 witnessed the emergence of covid-19 disease as a new notifiable infectious disease in Iraq and throughout the world. Little is known about the pattern of notifiable infectious diseases in Iraq during the first year of covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper is provide a description of the pattern of notifiable infectious diseases in Iraq during the year 2020, the first year of covid-19 global pandemic. Notifiable infectious diseases in Iraq were associated with a significant mortality during the year 2020, and that was because of the emergence of covid-19 disease as a new notifiable infectious diseases. Covid-19 disease, the most common notifiable infectious disease in 2020 changed the previously reported national mortality pattern. Contradictory, to the general belief that mortality associated with covid-19 disease was generally restricted to the older age groups, 117 children under the age of ten years died because of covid-19 disease in 2020. This number of childhood deaths suggests the need to consider vaccination of the younger age groups and to perform the relevant research.