Adawi, M, Bragazzi, NL, Watad, A orcid.org/0000-0002-1404-8027 et al. (3 more authors) (2017) Discrepancies Between Classic and Digital Epidemiology in Searching for the Mayaro Virus: Preliminary Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Google Trends. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 3 (4). e93. ISSN 2369-2960
Abstract
Background: Mayaro virus (MAYV), first discovered in Trinidad in 1954, is spread by the Haemagogus mosquito. Small outbreaks have been described in the past in the Amazon jungles of Brazil and other parts of South America. Recently, a case was reported in rural Haiti.
Objective: Given the emerging importance of MAYV, we aimed to explore the feasibility of exploiting a Web-based tool for monitoring and tracking MAYV cases.
Methods: Google Trends is an online tracking system. A Google-based approach is particularly useful to monitor especially infectious diseases epidemics. We searched Google Trends from its inception (from January 2004 through to May 2017) for MAYV-related Web searches worldwide.
Results: We noted a burst in search volumes in the period from July 2016 (relative search volume [RSV]=13%) to December 2016 (RSV=18%), with a peak in September 2016 (RSV=100%). Before this burst, the average search activity related to MAYV was very low (median 1%). MAYV-related queries were concentrated in the Caribbean. Scientific interest from the research community and media coverage affected digital seeking behavior.
Conclusions: MAYV has always circulated in South America. Its recent appearance in the Caribbean has been a source of concern, which resulted in a burst of Internet queries. While Google Trends cannot be used to perform real-time epidemiological surveillance of MAYV, it can be exploited to capture the public’s reaction to outbreaks. Public health workers should be aware of this, in that information and communication technologies could be used to communicate with users, reassure them about their concerns, and to empower them in making decisions affecting their health.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Mohammad Adawi, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, Abdulla Watad, Kassem Sharif, Howard Amital, Naim Mahroum. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 01.12.2017. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
Keywords: | digital health; digital epidemiology; emerging viruses; Mayaro virus; arboviruses; epidemiology; epidemiological monitoring |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Institute of Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM) (Leeds) > Experimental Musculoskeletal Medicine (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2019 15:09 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2019 15:09 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | JMIR Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.2196/publichealth.9136 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:141326 |