Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA.
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Joplin, MO, USA.
Trop Med Int Health. 2020 Nov;25(11):1416-1421. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13480. Epub 2020 Sep 28.
We retrospectively analysed the relative search interest of malaria to (1) assess the relationship between Internet searches for malaria and rates of infection in 11 countries considered 'high burden' by WHO in 2019 and to (2) determine the ability of World Malaria Day on April 25 to generate interest in the disease.
Using Google Trends, we sought to determine the relative popularity of the topic of Malaria over 4 years (2015-2019). Worldwide and country-specific searches for 'malaria' were used to assess the influence the international awareness day has on global and local interest in malaria. In order to determine whether a relationship exists between Internet searches and the disease burden of malaria, the information gathered from Google Trends was then compared with reports of morbidity and mortality of malaria from the 2019 World Malaria Report.
Globally, a negative mean difference in relative search volume was observed between World Malaria Day and the control periods of -2.46 (95% CI: -5.57 to 0.66). The relative search volume for malaria-related search terms increased by 2.91% (±4.60) from January 2015 to 1 July 2019 in the 5 countries with the highest malaria disease burden. A positive correlation (r = 0.804) was found between per capita infections and malaria Internet search interest in addition to deaths per 1000 residents and malaria relative search interest (r = 0.663) between 2015 and 2018.
Initiatives such as World Malaria Day may help raise public awareness concerning a specific disease, prompting individuals to seek out additional information. This is especially important in high-burden countries where access to the Internet is steadily growing. In these circumstances, having quality and easily accessible information is vital in the continuing fight against malaria.
我们回顾性分析了疟疾的相对搜索兴趣，（1）评估 2019 年世卫组织认定的 11 个“高负担”国家的疟疾感染率与互联网搜索之间的关系，（2）确定 4 月 25 日世界疟疾日是否有能力引起人们对该病的关注。
使用谷歌趋势，我们试图在 4 年内（2015-2019 年）确定疟疾这一主题的相对流行度。使用全球和国家特定的“疟疾”搜索来评估国际意识日对全球和地方对疟疾的关注的影响。为了确定互联网搜索与疟疾疾病负担之间是否存在关系，然后将从谷歌趋势收集的信息与 2019 年世界疟疾报告中的疟疾发病率和死亡率报告进行比较。
在全球范围内，世界疟疾日与对照期之间的相对搜索量平均差异为-2.46（95%置信区间：-5.57 至 0.66）。在疟疾疾病负担最高的 5 个国家，从 2015 年 1 月至 2019 年 7 月 1 日，与疟疾相关的搜索词的相对搜索量增加了 2.91%（±4.60）。除每千名居民疟疾死亡人数和疟疾相对搜索兴趣（r=0.663）之间存在正相关（r=0.804）外，还发现人均感染率与疟疾互联网搜索兴趣之间存在正相关。
世界疟疾日等倡议可能有助于提高公众对特定疾病的认识，促使人们寻找更多信息。在互联网接入率稳步增长的高负担国家，这一点尤为重要。在这种情况下，拥有高质量且易于获取的信息对于持续抗击疟疾至关重要。
