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Kelly CA, Blain B, Sharot T. "How" web searches change under stress. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15147. [PMID: 38956247 PMCID: PMC11220009 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65895-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
To adjust to stressful environments, people seek information. Here, we show that in response to stressful public and private events the high-level features of information people seek online alter, reflecting their motives for seeking knowledge. We first show that when people want information to guide action they selectively ask "How" questions. Next, we reveal that "How" searches submitted to Google increased dramatically during the pandemic (controlling for search volume). Strikingly, the proportion of these searches predicted weekly self-reported stress of ~ 17K individuals. To rule out third factors we manipulate stress and find that "How" searches increase in response to stressful, personal, events. The findings suggest that under stress people ask questions to guide action, and mental state is reflected in features that tap into why people seek information rather than the topics they search for. Tracking such features may provide clues regrading population stress levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Kelly
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, WC1B 5EH, UK.
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, USA.
| | - Bastien Blain
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Tali Sharot
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, WC1B 5EH, UK.
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, USA.
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Pham NT, Bui QT, Tran DM, Larsson M, Pham MP, Olson L. Pertussis seasonal variation in Northern Vietnam: the evidence from a tertiary hospital. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:286. [PMID: 38267959 PMCID: PMC10809638 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17705-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pertussis is a highly contagious and dangerous respiratory disease that threatens children's health in many countries, including Vietnam, despite vaccine coverage. From 2015 to 2018, Vietnam experienced an increasing number of pertussis patients. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the trend and examine the seasonal variations of pertussis in North Vietnam. METHODS Data were collected from medical records of all under-5-year-old inpatients admitted to the National Children's Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam (VNCH) 2015-2018. A descriptive analysis was performed to describe the distribution of incident cases by year and season. Linear multivariable regression was conducted to investigate the association between the incidence of cases and seasonality adjusted by age and vaccination status. RESULTS We identified 1063 laboratory-confirmed patients during 2015-2018, including 247 (23.2%) severe patients. The number of pertussis patients admitted to VNCH per 1000 hospitalizations was 3.2 in 2015, compared to 1.9, 3.1, and 2.1 in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively. Outbreaks occurred biennially; however, there was no significant difference in the number of severe patients over this period. Most cases occurred in the hot season (509 patients, or nearly half of the study population). With the adjustment of the vaccination rate and average age, the risk of pertussis-associated hospitalization in the mild season and the hot season was 21% (95% CI [0.12; 0.3]) and 15% (95% CI [0.05; 0.25]) higher than that in the warm season, respectively. The rate of hospitalizations was high in the mild season (28.9%) and the warm season (30.8%), nearly twice as much as that in the hot season; nevertheless, the death rate was only striking high in the mild season, about 5-6 times as much as those in the other seasons. CONCLUSION The pertussis incidence in Northern Vietnam varied between seasons, peaking in the hot season (April-July). However, severe patients and deaths increased in the mild season (December-March). Interventions, for example, communication activities on pertussis and vaccination, are of immense importance in lowering the prevalence of pertussis. In addition, early diagnoses and early warnings performed by health professionals should be encouraged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nhung Th Pham
- Infection Prevention and Control Department, Vietnam National Children's Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Field Epidemiology Training Program - Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Quyen Tt Bui
- Faculty of Fundamental Sciences, Hanoi University of Public Health, No. 1A Duc Thang Ward, North Tu Liem, Ha Noi, Vietnam.
| | - Dien M Tran
- Vietnam National Children's Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Pediatric Department, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Mattias Larsson
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Training and Research Academic Collaboration, Sweden-Vietnam, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mai P Pham
- School of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Linus Olson
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Training and Research Academic Collaboration, Sweden-Vietnam, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Barrero Guevara LA, Goult E, Rodriguez D, Hernandez LJ, Kaufer B, Kurth T, Domenech de Cellès M. Delineating the Seasonality of Varicella and Its Association With Climate in the Tropical Country of Colombia. J Infect Dis 2023; 228:674-683. [PMID: 37384795 PMCID: PMC10503957 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Varicella causes a major health burden in many low- to middle-income countries located in tropical regions. Because of the lack of surveillance data, however, the epidemiology of varicella in these regions remains uncharacterized. In this study, based on an extensive dataset of weekly varicella incidence in children ≤10 during 2011-2014 in 25 municipalities, we aimed to delineate the seasonality of varicella across the diverse tropical climates of Colombia. METHODS We used generalized additive models to estimate varicella seasonality, and we used clustering and matrix correlation methods to assess its correlation with climate. Furthermore, we developed a mathematical model to examine whether including the effect of climate on varicella transmission could reproduce the observed spatiotemporal patterns. RESULTS Varicella seasonality was markedly bimodal, with latitudinal changes in the peaks' timing and amplitude. This spatial gradient strongly correlated with specific humidity (Mantel statistic = 0.412, P = .001) but not temperature (Mantel statistic = 0.077, P = .225). The mathematical model reproduced the observed patterns not only in Colombia but also México, and it predicted a latitudinal gradient in Central America. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate large variability in varicella seasonality across Colombia and suggest that spatiotemporal humidity fluctuations can explain the calendar of varicella epidemics in Colombia, México, and potentially in Central America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Andrea Barrero Guevara
- Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Public Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Elizabeth Goult
- Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | - Benedikt Kaufer
- Institute of Virology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tobias Kurth
- Institute of Public Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Wang Z, He J, Jin B, Zhang L, Han C, Wang M, Wang H, An S, Zhao M, Zhen Q, Tiejun S, Zhang X. Using Baidu Index Data to Improve Chickenpox Surveillance in Yunnan, China: Infodemiology Study. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e44186. [PMID: 37191983 DOI: 10.2196/44186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chickenpox is an old but easily neglected infectious disease. Although chickenpox is preventable by vaccines, vaccine breakthroughs often occur, and the chickenpox epidemic is on the rise. Chickenpox is not included in the list of regulated communicable diseases that must be reported and controlled by public and health departments; therefore, it is crucial to rapidly identify and report varicella outbreaks during the early stages. The Baidu index (BDI) can supplement the traditional surveillance system for infectious diseases, such as brucellosis and dengue, in China. The number of reported chickenpox cases and internet search data also showed a similar trend. BDI can be a useful tool to display the outbreak of infectious diseases. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to develop an efficient disease surveillance method that uses BDI to assist in traditional surveillance. METHODS Chickenpox incidence data (weekly from January 2017 to June 2021) reported by the Yunnan Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention were obtained to evaluate the relationship between the incidence of chickenpox and BDI. We applied a support vector machine regression (SVR) model and a multiple regression prediction model with BDI to predict the incidence of chickenpox. In addition, we used the SVR model to predict the number of chickenpox cases from June 2021 to the first week of April 2022. RESULTS The analysis showed that there was a close correlation between the weekly number of newly diagnosed cases and the BDI. In the search terms we collected, the highest Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.747. Most BDI search terms, such as "chickenpox," "chickenpox treatment," "treatment of chickenpox," "chickenpox symptoms," and "chickenpox virus," trend consistently. Some BDI search terms, such as "chickenpox pictures," "symptoms of chickenpox," "chickenpox vaccine," and "is chickenpox vaccine necessary," appeared earlier than the trend of "chickenpox virus." The 2 models were compared, the SVR model performed better in all the applied measurements: fitting effect, R2=0.9108, root mean square error (RMSE)=96.2995, and mean absolute error (MAE)=73.3988; and prediction effect, R2=0.548, RMSE=189.1807, and MAE=147.5412. In addition, we applied the SVR model to predict the number of reported cases weekly in Yunnan from June 2021 to April 2022 using the same period of the BDI. The results showed that the fluctuation of the time series from July 2021 to April 2022 was similar to that of the last year and a half with no change in the level of prevention and control. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicated that the BDI in Yunnan Province can predict the incidence of chickenpox in the same period. Thus, the BDI is a useful tool for monitoring the chickenpox epidemic and for complementing traditional monitoring systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaohan Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Jun He
- Yunnan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yunnan, China
| | - Bolin Jin
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Lizhi Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Chenyu Han
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Meiqi Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Hao Wang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Shuqi An
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Meifang Zhao
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Qing Zhen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Shui Tiejun
- Yunnan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yunnan, China
| | - Xinyao Zhang
- Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Kyrychko YN, Blyuss KB. Vaccination games and imitation dynamics with memory. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2023; 33:033134. [PMID: 37003837 DOI: 10.1063/5.0143184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, we model dynamics of pediatric vaccination as an imitation game, in which the rate of switching of vaccination strategies is proportional to perceived payoff gain that consists of the difference between perceived risk of infection and perceived risk of vaccine side effects. To account for the fact that vaccine side effects may affect people's perceptions of vaccine safety for some period of time, we use a delay distribution to represent how memory of past side effects influences current perception of risk. We find disease-free, pure vaccinator, and endemic equilibria and obtain conditions for their stability in terms of system parameters and characteristics of a delay distribution. Numerical bifurcation analysis illustrates how stability of the endemic steady state varies with the imitation rate and the mean time delay, and this shows that it is not just the mean duration of memory of past side effects, but also the actual distribution that determines whether disease will be maintained in the population at some steady level, or if sustained periodic oscillations around this steady state will be observed. Numerical simulations illustrate a comparison of the dynamics for different mean delays and different distributions, and they show that even when periodic solutions are observed, there are differences in their amplitude and period for different distributions. We also investigate the effect of constant public health information campaigns on vaccination dynamics. The analysis suggests that the introduction of such campaigns acts as a stabilizing factor for endemic equilibrium, allowing it to remain stable for larger values of mean time delays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y N Kyrychko
- Department of Mathematics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
| | - K B Blyuss
- Department of Mathematics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
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Wang D, Guerra A, Wittke F, Lang JC, Bakker K, Lee AW, Finelli L, Chen YH. Real-Time Monitoring of Infectious Disease Outbreaks with a Combination of Google Trends Search Results and the Moving Epidemic Method: A Respiratory Syncytial Virus Case Study. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:tropicalmed8020075. [PMID: 36828491 PMCID: PMC9962753 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8020075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the seasonal patterns of several infectious diseases. Understanding when and where an outbreak may occur is vital for public health planning and response. We usually rely on well-functioning surveillance systems to monitor epidemic outbreaks. However, not all countries have a well-functioning surveillance system in place, or at least not for the pathogen in question. We utilized Google Trends search results for RSV-related keywords to identify outbreaks. We evaluated the strength of the Pearson correlation coefficient between clinical surveillance data and online search data and applied the Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) to identify country-specific epidemic thresholds. Additionally, we established pseudo-RSV surveillance systems, enabling internal stakeholders to obtain insights on the speed and risk of any emerging RSV outbreaks in countries with imprecise disease surveillance systems but with Google Trends data. Strong correlations between RSV clinical surveillance data and Google Trends search results from several countries were observed. In monitoring an upcoming RSV outbreak with MEM, data collected from both systems yielded similar estimates of country-specific epidemic thresholds, starting time, and duration. We demonstrate in this study the potential of monitoring disease outbreaks in real time and complement classical disease surveillance systems by leveraging online search data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawei Wang
- Health Economic and Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07065, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - Andrea Guerra
- Clinical Development, MSD, Kings Cross, London EC2M 6UR, UK
| | | | - John Cameron Lang
- Health Economic and Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07065, USA
| | - Kevin Bakker
- Health Economic and Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07065, USA
| | - Andrew W. Lee
- Clinical Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07065, USA
| | - Lyn Finelli
- Clinical Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 07065, USA
| | - Yao-Hsuan Chen
- Health Economic and Decision Sciences, MSD, Kings Cross, London EC2M 6UR, UK
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Bakker KM, Eisenberg MC, Woods RJ, Martinez ME. Identifying optimal vaccination scenarios to reduce varicella zoster virus transmission and reactivation. BMC Med 2022; 20:387. [PMID: 36209074 PMCID: PMC9548166 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02534-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is one of the eight known human herpesviruses. Initial VZV infection results in chickenpox, while viral reactivation following a period of latency manifests as shingles. Separate vaccines exist to protect against both initial infection and subsequent reactivation. Controversy regarding chickenpox vaccination is contentious with most countries not including the vaccine in their childhood immunization schedule due to the hypothesized negative impact on immune-boosting, where VZV reactivation is suppressed through exogenous boosting of VZV antibodies from exposure to natural chickenpox infections. METHODS Population-level chickenpox and shingles notifications from Thailand, a country that does not vaccinate against either disease, were previously fitted with mathematical models to estimate rates of VZV transmission and reactivation. Here, multiple chickenpox and shingles vaccination scenarios were simulated and compared to a model lacking any vaccination to analyze the long-term impacts of VZV vaccination. RESULTS As expected, simulations suggested that an introduction of the chickenpox vaccine, at any coverage level, would reduce chickenpox incidence. However, chickenpox vaccine coverage levels above 35% would increase shingles incidence under realistic estimates of shingles coverage with the current length of protective immunity from the vaccine. A trade-off between chickenpox and shingles vaccination coverage was discovered, where mid-level chickenpox coverage levels were identified as the optimal target to minimize total zoster burden. Only in scenarios where shingles vaccine provided lifelong immunity or coverage exceeded current levels could large reductions in both chickenpox and shingles be achieved. CONCLUSIONS The complicated nature of VZV makes it impossible to select a single vaccination scenario as universal policy. Strategies focused on reducing both chickenpox and shingles incidence, but prioritizing the latter should maximize efforts towards shingles vaccination, while slowly incorporating chickenpox vaccination. Alternatively, countries may wish to minimize VZV complications of both chickenpox and shingles, which would lead to maximizing vaccine coverage levels across both diseases. Balancing the consequences of vaccination to overall health impacts, including understanding the impact of an altered mean age of infection for both chickenpox and shingles, would need to be considered prior to any vaccine introduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M Bakker
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Marisa C Eisenberg
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Robert J Woods
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Micaela E Martinez
- Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution, Emory University, 30322, Atlanta, GA, USA
- University of Surrey, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Guildford, UK
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Simonart T, Lam Hoai XL, de Maertelaer V. Worldwide Evolution of Vaccinable and Nonvaccinable Viral Skin Infections: Google Trends Analysis. JMIR DERMATOLOGY 2022; 5:e35034. [PMID: 37632891 PMCID: PMC10334945 DOI: 10.2196/35034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Most common viral skin infections are not reportable conditions. Studying the population dynamics of these viral epidemics using traditional field methods is costly and time-consuming, especially over wide geographical areas. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the evolution, seasonality, and distribution of vaccinable and nonvaccinable viral skin infections through an analysis of Google Trends. METHODS Worldwide search trends from January 2004 through May 2021 for viral skin infections were extracted from Google Trends, quantified, and analyzed. RESULTS Time series decomposition showed that the total search term volume for warts; zoster; roseola; measles; hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD); varicella; and rubella increased worldwide over the study period, whereas the interest for Pityriasis rosea and herpes simplex decreased. Internet searches for HFMD, varicella, and measles exhibited the highest seasonal patterns. The interest for measles and rubella was more pronounced in African countries, whereas the interest for HFMD and roseola was more pronounced in East Asia. CONCLUSIONS Harnessing data generated by web searches may increase the efficacy of traditional surveillance systems and strengthens the suspicion that the incidence of some vaccinable viral skin infections such as varicella, measles, and rubella may be globally increasing, whereas the incidence of common nonvaccinable skin infections remains stable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thierry Simonart
- Department of Dermatology, Delta Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Interrégional Edith Cavell, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Xuân-Lan Lam Hoai
- Department of Dermatology, St Pierre - Brugmann - Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola University Hospitals, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Viviane de Maertelaer
- Department of Biostatistics, Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Biologie Humaine et Moléculaire, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Zieger M, Strzelecki A, Springer S. Public awareness for "classic" childhood diseases and inflammatory syndromes in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Pediatr Nurs 2022; 66:191-195. [PMID: 35835017 PMCID: PMC9272900 DOI: 10.1016/j.pedn.2022.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The objective was to analyze in silico public search interest during the COVID-19 pandemic for some classic infectious childhood diseases, e.g., measles, mumps, chickenpox, scarlet fever, and inflammatory diseases like Kawasaki disease and the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS). STUDY DESIGN In this study, a comparison of five childhood diseases in public search trends with the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome was performed. METHODS Google Trends data for the period of five years for six childhood diseases were used. We used topics coverings all languages worldwide and all connected search queries. RESULTS Public search interest decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic for some classic infectious childhood diseases. Search interest for the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, despite strong indication of a connection with COVID-19, remained relatively low compared to Kawasaki disease. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Better understanding of Google Trends can map public awareness of childhood diseases in terms of time course and search intensity. CONCLUSIONS Public interest during the pandemic was generated for diseases with suspected connection to COVID-19, presumably due to media triggers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Artur Strzelecki
- University of Economics in Katowice, Department of Informatics, Katowice, Poland.
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10
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Kujur A, Kiran KA, Kujur M. An Epidemiological Study of Outbreak Investigation of Chickenpox in Remote Hamlets of a Tribal State in India. Cureus 2022; 14:e26454. [PMID: 35923668 PMCID: PMC9339339 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.26454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
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Costola M, Iacopini M, Santagiustina CRMA. Google search volumes and the financial markets during the COVID-19 outbreak. FINANCE RESEARCH LETTERS 2021; 42:101884. [PMID: 34903954 PMCID: PMC8656187 DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2020] [Revised: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
During the outbreak of the COVID-19, concerns related to the severity of the pandemic have played a prominent role in investment decisions. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between public attention and the financial markets using search engine data from Google Trends. Our findings show that search query volumes in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States are connected with stock markets. The Italian Google Trends index is found to be the main driver of all the considered markets. Furthermore, the country-specific market impacts of COVID-19-related concerns closely follow the Italian lockdown process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Costola
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Cannaregio 873, 30123 Venice Italy
| | - Matteo Iacopini
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands
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12
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Costola M, Iacopini M, Santagiustina CRMA. Google search volumes and the financial markets during the COVID-19 outbreak. FINANCE RESEARCH LETTERS 2021. [PMID: 34903954 DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3591193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
During the outbreak of the COVID-19, concerns related to the severity of the pandemic have played a prominent role in investment decisions. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between public attention and the financial markets using search engine data from Google Trends. Our findings show that search query volumes in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States are connected with stock markets. The Italian Google Trends index is found to be the main driver of all the considered markets. Furthermore, the country-specific market impacts of COVID-19-related concerns closely follow the Italian lockdown process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Costola
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Cannaregio 873, 30123 Venice Italy
| | - Matteo Iacopini
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands
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13
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Bakker KM, Eisenberg MC, Woods R, Martinez ME. Exploring the Seasonal Drivers of Varicella Zoster Virus Transmission and Reactivation. Am J Epidemiol 2021; 190:1814-1820. [PMID: 33733653 PMCID: PMC8579026 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwab073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a herpesvirus that causes chickenpox and shingles. The biological mechanisms underpinning the multidecadal latency of VZV in the body and subsequent viral reactivation-which occurs in approximately 30% of individuals-are largely unknown. Because chickenpox and shingles are endemic worldwide, understanding the relationship between VZV transmission and reactivation is important for informing disease treatment and control. While chickenpox is a vaccine-preventable childhood disease with a rich legacy of research, shingles is not a notifiable disease in most countries. To date, population-level studies of shingles have had to rely on small-scale hospital or community-level data sets. Here, we examined chickenpox and shingles notifications from Thailand and found strong seasonal incidence in both diseases, with a 3-month lag between peak chickenpox transmission season and peak shingles reactivation. We tested and fitted 14 mathematical models examining the biological drivers of chickenpox and shingles over an 8-year period to estimate rates of VZV transmission, reactivation, and immunity-boosting, wherein reexposure to VZV boosts VZV-specific immunity to reinforce protection against shingles. The models suggested that the seasonal cycles of chickenpox and shingles have different underlying mechanisms, with ambient levels of ultraviolet radiation being correlated with shingles reactivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M Bakker
- Correspondence to Dr. Kevin Bakker, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 5116 School of Public Health II, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (e-mail: )
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14
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Virome in adult Aedes albopictus captured during different seasons in Guangzhou City, China. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:415. [PMID: 34407871 PMCID: PMC8371599 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04922-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The mosquito Aedes albopictus is an important vector for many pathogens. Understanding the virome in Ae. albopictus is critical for assessing the risk of disease transmission, implementation of vector control measures, and health system strengthening. Methods In this study, viral metagenomic and PCR methods were used to reveal the virome in adult Ae. albopictus captured in different areas and during different seasons in Guangzhou, China. Results The viral composition of adult Ae. albopictus varied mainly between seasons. Over 50 viral families were found, which were specific to vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, fungi, bacteria, and protozoa. In rural areas, Siphoviridae (6.5%) was the most common viral family harbored by mosquitoes captured during winter and spring, while Luteoviridae (1.1%) was the most common viral family harbored by mosquitoes captured during summer and autumn. Myoviridae (7.0% and 1.3%) was the most common viral family in mosquitoes captured in urban areas during all seasons. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was detected by PCR in a female mosquito pool. The first near full-length HBV genome from Ae. albopictus was amplified, which showed a high level of similarity with human HBV genotype B sequences. Human parechovirus (HPeV) was detected in male and female mosquito pools, and the sequences were clustered with HPeV 1 and 3 sequences. Conclusions Large numbers of viral species were found in adult Ae. albopictus, including viruses from vertebrates, insects, and plants. The viral composition in Ae. albopictus mainly varied between seasons. Herein, we are the first to report the detection of HPeV and HBV in mosquitoes. This study not only provides valuable information for the control and prevention of mosquito-borne diseases, but it also demonstrates the feasibility of xenosurveillance. Graphical Abstract ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04922-z.
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15
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Sycinska-Dziarnowska M, Maglitto M, Woźniak K, Spagnuolo G. Oral Health and Teledentistry Interest during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Clin Med 2021; 10:3532. [PMID: 34441828 PMCID: PMC8397114 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10163532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has significantly changed access to dental treatments. METHODS The data related to oral health and teledentistry topics were collected from the open database Google Trends. The analyzed material was collected from 19 June 2016 to 6 June 2021 among anonymous search engine users. The following expressions were analyzed: "dental care", "emergency dental care", "oral health", "periodontitis", "teledentistry", "is it safe to go to the dentist", and "COVID-19" and "PPE dentist". RESULTS During the first lockdown in 2020, a significant increase in "emergency dental care" phrase queries was detected, with a simultaneous decrease in regular "dental care" questions, as well as a peak in the queries for "periodontitis" preceded by lower interest in "oral health." The number of searches stated for "teledentistry" increased during the time of the pandemic 5 times and for and "PPE dentist" 30 times. The risk of visiting the dental studio was seen in almost 40 times increase in the query "is it safe to go to the dentist." CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 imprinted a stigma on oral health care. In this difficult epidemiological situation, teledentistry might become a helpful solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Sycinska-Dziarnowska
- Department of Orthodontics, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Powstańców Wielkopolskich Street 72, 70111 Szczecin, Poland; (M.S.-D.); (K.W.)
| | - Marzia Maglitto
- Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
| | - Krzysztof Woźniak
- Department of Orthodontics, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Powstańców Wielkopolskich Street 72, 70111 Szczecin, Poland; (M.S.-D.); (K.W.)
| | - Gianrico Spagnuolo
- Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
- Institute of Dentistry, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119435 Moscow, Russia
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16
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Gupta R, Pakhchanian H, Raiker R, Asahi M, Raparla N, Belyea D. Public Interest in Refractive Diseases and Treatments During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Google Trends Analysis. Cureus 2021; 13:e17207. [PMID: 34540434 PMCID: PMC8442795 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.17207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To assess national internet search trends/public interest in refractive diseases and treatments during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A Google Trends search for refractive terms was performed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Refractive terms were divided into disease and treatment terms. Relative search volume (RSV) indices were assessed in the United States from the initial lockdown period (March 1 - June 28), summer reopening period (July 5 - November 1), and winter case surge/vaccine rollout period (November 8 - February 28). A t-test of two independent samples assuming unequal variances was utilized in comparing the pandemic year to pooled data of overlapping weeks between 2016-2019. Results The majority of disease and treatment terms showed a significant decrease in RSV during the initial lockdown period (p<0.05). There was a significant increase in RSV for cataract, astigmatism, cataract surgery, and photorefractive keratotomy (PRK) (p<0.05), accompanied by a significant decrease in RSV for contact lens during the summer reopening period. There was a significant increase in RSV for cataract, astigmatism, glasses, and PRK, accompanied by a significant decrease in RSV for hyperopia, keratoconus, contact lens, and LASIK during the winter case surge/vaccine rollout period. Conclusion There was a significant decrease in the public interest in refractive diseases and treatments during the lockdown period, accompanied by an increase in interest later in the year. Decreased public interest can lead to delays in care, poorer health literacy, and potentially worse outcomes. Strategies to enhance public interest and care during the pandemic may prove to be beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rishabh Gupta
- Ophthalmology, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, USA
| | - Haig Pakhchanian
- Ophthalmology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC, USA
| | - Rahul Raiker
- Ophthalmology, West Virgina University School of Medicine, Morgantown, USA
| | - Masumi Asahi
- Ophthalmology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC, USA
| | - Neha Raparla
- Ophthalmology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC, USA
| | - David Belyea
- Ophthalmology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC, USA
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17
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Worldwide antipsychotic drug search intensities: pharmacoepidemological estimations based on Google Trends data. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13136. [PMID: 34162927 PMCID: PMC8222314 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92204-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Prescription patterns of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are typically sourced from country-specific data. In this study, a digital pharmacoepidemiological approach was used to investigate APD preferences globally. Publicly available data on worldwide web search intensities in Google for 19 typical and 22 atypical APDs were temporally and spatially normalized and correlated with reported prescription data. The results demonstrated an increasing global preference for atypical over typical APDs since 2007, with quetiapine, olanzapine, risperidone, and aripiprazole showing the largest search intensities in 2020. Cross-sectional analysis of 122 countries in 2020 showed pronounced differences in atypical/typical APD preferences that correlated with gross domestic product per capita. In conclusion, the investigation provides temporal and spatial assessments of global APD preferences and shows a trend towards atypical APDs, although with a relative preference for typical APDs in low-income countries. Similar data-sourcing methodologies allow for prospective studies of other prescription drugs.
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18
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Oladeji O, Zhang C, Moradi T, Tarapore D, Stokes AC, Marivate V, Sengeh MD, Nsoesie EO. Monitoring Information-Seeking Patterns and Obesity Prevalence in Africa With Internet Search Data: Observational Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2021; 7:e24348. [PMID: 33913815 PMCID: PMC8120431 DOI: 10.2196/24348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The prevalence of chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes is increasing in African countries. Many chronic diseases have been linked to risk factors such as poor diet and physical inactivity. Data for these behavioral risk factors are usually obtained from surveys, which can be delayed by years. Behavioral data from digital sources, including social media and search engines, could be used for timely monitoring of behavioral risk factors. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to propose the use of digital data from internet sources for monitoring changes in behavioral risk factors in Africa. METHODS We obtained the adjusted volume of search queries submitted to Google for 108 terms related to diet, exercise, and disease from 2010 to 2016. We also obtained the obesity and overweight prevalence for 52 African countries from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the same period. Machine learning algorithms (ie, random forest, support vector machine, Bayes generalized linear model, gradient boosting, and an ensemble of the individual methods) were used to identify search terms and patterns that correlate with changes in obesity and overweight prevalence across Africa. Out-of-sample predictions were used to assess and validate the model performance. RESULTS The study included 52 African countries. In 2016, the WHO reported an overweight prevalence ranging from 20.9% (95% credible interval [CI] 17.1%-25.0%) to 66.8% (95% CI 62.4%-71.0%) and an obesity prevalence ranging from 4.5% (95% CI 2.9%-6.5%) to 32.5% (95% CI 27.2%-38.1%) in Africa. The highest obesity and overweight prevalence were noted in the northern and southern regions. Google searches for diet-, exercise-, and obesity-related terms explained 97.3% (root-mean-square error [RMSE] 1.15) of the variation in obesity prevalence across all 52 countries. Similarly, the search data explained 96.6% (RMSE 2.26) of the variation in the overweight prevalence. The search terms yoga, exercise, and gym were most correlated with changes in obesity and overweight prevalence in countries with the highest prevalence. CONCLUSIONS Information-seeking patterns for diet- and exercise-related terms could indicate changes in attitudes toward and engagement in risk factors or healthy behaviors. These trends could capture population changes in risk factor prevalence, inform digital and physical interventions, and supplement official data from surveys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olubusola Oladeji
- Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Chi Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Tiam Moradi
- Department of Computer Science, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Dharmesh Tarapore
- Department of Computer Science, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Andrew C Stokes
- Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Vukosi Marivate
- Department of Computer Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Moinina D Sengeh
- Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, Freetown, Sierra Leone
| | - Elaine O Nsoesie
- Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
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19
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The Role of Conspiracy Theories in the Spread of COVID-19 across the United States. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18073843. [PMID: 33917575 PMCID: PMC8038760 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18073843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inspires various conspiracy theories, which could divert public attention, alter human behaviors, and consequently affect the spread of the pandemic. Here we estimate the relation of the online attention on COVID-19-related conspiracy theories to human mobility, as well as to the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases, during 14 March 2020 to 28 August 2020. We observe that the online attention to COVID-19 conspiracy theories is significantly and negatively related to human mobility, but its negative impact is noticeably less than those of the attention to official information and personal protection measures. Since human mobility significantly promotes the spread of COVID-19, the attention to official information and personal protection measures lowers COVID-19 cases by 16.16% and 9.41%, respectively, while attention to conspiracy theories only reduces the COVID-19 cases by 6.65%. In addition, we find that in the states with higher online attention to COVID-19 conspiracy theories, the negative relation of the attention to conspiracy theories is much weaker than that in states where there is less concern about conspiracies. This study stresses the necessity of restricting the online transmission of unfounded conspiracy theories during a pandemic.
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20
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Firouzi M, Sherkatolabbasieh H, Shafizadeh S. Clinical Signs, Prevention and Treatment of Viral Infections in Infants. Infect Disord Drug Targets 2021; 22:e160921190908. [PMID: 33511936 DOI: 10.2174/1871526521666210129145317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Certain infectious diseases are common in infants than any other age groups and are associated with morbidities in childhood and adulthood, and even mortality in severe cases. Environment, epidemic and maternal immunity are the main causes of these infections. Early diagnosis using molecular methods and treatment is therefore important to prevent future complications. Vaccines are recommended during infancy and childhood to prevent these infections. This review highlights some of the most commonly reported viral infections in children, their clinical signs, prevention and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Majid Firouzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khoramabad. Iran
| | | | - Shiva Shafizadeh
- Department of Internal Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khoramabad. Iran
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21
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Park J, Ionides EL. Inference on high-dimensional implicit dynamic models using a guided intermediate resampling filter. STATISTICS AND COMPUTING 2020; 30:1497-1522. [PMID: 35664372 PMCID: PMC9164307 DOI: 10.1007/s11222-020-09957-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We propose a method for inference on moderately high-dimensional, nonlinear, non-Gaussian, partially observed Markov process models for which the transition density is not analytically tractable. Markov processes with intractable transition densities arise in models defined implicitly by simulation algorithms. Widely used particle filter methods are applicable to nonlinear, non-Gaussian models but suffer from the curse of dimensionality. Improved scalability is provided by ensemble Kalman filter methods, but these are inappropriate for highly nonlinear and non-Gaussian models. We propose a particle filter method having improved practical and theoretical scalability with respect to the model dimension. This method is applicable to implicitly defined models having analytically intractable transition densities. Our method is developed based on the assumption that the latent process is defined in continuous time and that a simulator of this latent process is available. In this method, particles are propagated at intermediate time intervals between observations and are resampled based on a forecast likelihood of future observations. We combine this particle filter with parameter estimation methodology to enable likelihood-based inference for highly nonlinear spatiotemporal systems. We demonstrate our methodology on a stochastic Lorenz 96 model and a model for the population dynamics of infectious diseases in a network of linked regions.
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22
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Shi P, Dong Y, Yan H, Zhao C, Li X, Liu W, He M, Tang S, Xi S. Impact of temperature on the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 728:138890. [PMID: 32339844 PMCID: PMC7177086 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 240] [Impact Index Per Article: 60.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
A COVID-19 outbreak emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 and developed into a global pandemic during March 2020. The effects of temperature on the dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in China are unknown. Data on COVID-19 daily confirmed cases and daily mean temperatures were collected from 31 provincial-level regions in mainland China between Jan. 20 and Feb. 29, 2020. Locally weighted regression and smoothing scatterplot (LOESS), distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNMs), and random-effects meta-analysis were used to examine the relationship between daily confirmed cases rate of COVID-19 and temperature conditions. The daily number of new cases peaked on Feb. 12, and then decreased. The daily confirmed cases rate of COVID-19 had a biphasic relationship with temperature (with a peak at 10 °C), and the daily incidence of COVID-19 decreased at values below and above these values. The overall epidemic intensity of COVID-19 reduced slightly following days with higher temperatures with a relative risk (RR) was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93, 0.99). A random-effect meta-analysis including 28 provinces in mainland China, we confirmed the statistically significant association between temperature and RR during the study period (Coefficient = -0.0100, 95% CI: -0.0125, -0.0074). The DLNMs in Hubei Province (outside of Wuhan) and Wuhan showed similar patterns of temperature. Additionally, a modified susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (M-SEIR) model, with adjustment for climatic factors, was used to provide a complete characterization of the impact of climate on the dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Shi
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Yinqiao Dong
- Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Huanchang Yan
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chenkai Zhao
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Xiaoyang Li
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Wei Liu
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Miao He
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
| | - Shixing Tang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shuhua Xi
- Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
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Korevaar H, Metcalf CJ, Grenfell BT. Structure, space and size: competing drivers of variation in urban and rural measles transmission. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200010. [PMID: 32634366 PMCID: PMC7423418 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
A key concern in public health is whether disparities exist between urban and rural areas. One dimension of potential variation is the transmission of infectious diseases. In addition to potential differences between urban and rural local dynamics, the question of whether urban and rural areas participate equally in national dynamics remains unanswered. Specifically, urban and rural areas may diverge in local transmission as well as spatial connectivity, and thus risk for receiving imported cases. Finally, the potential confounding relationship of spatial proximity with size and urban/rural district type has not been addressed by previous research. It is rare to have sufficient data to explore these questions thoroughly. We use exhaustive weekly case reports of measles in 954 urban and 468 rural districts of the UK (1944–1965) to compare both local disease dynamics as well as regional transmission. We employ the time-series susceptible–infected–recovered model to estimate disease transmission, epidemic severity, seasonality and import dependence. Congruent with past results, we observe a clear dependence on population size for the majority of these measures. We use a matched-pair strategy to compare proximate urban and rural districts and control for possible spatial confounders. This analytical strategy reveals a modest difference between urban and rural areas. Rural areas tend to be characterized by more frequent, smaller outbreaks compared to urban counterparts. The magnitude of the difference is slight and the results primarily reinforce the importance of population size, both in terms of local and regional transmission. In sum, urban and rural areas demonstrate remarkable epidemiological similarity in this recent UK context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Korevaar
- Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - C Jessica Metcalf
- Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Bryan T Grenfell
- Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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24
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Todorova TT. Seasonal dynamics of varicella incidence in Bulgaria. Future Virol 2020. [DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2020-0012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Aim: Spatial and temporal distribution of varicella is heterogenic and insufficiently studied in Europe. The present study tries to fill the gap that exists about the seasonality of the infection in Bulgaria. Materials & methods: A 4-year retrospective study of the monthly and seasonal varicella epidemiology was performed at both national and district level. Results: In Bulgaria, varicella incidence peaked during winter (37% of the 2015–2018 cases), followed by spring (33%) and autumn (23%). Highly populated districts were more likely to follow this pattern, while less inhabited districts with smaller urbanized areas showed different periodicity of the infection. Conclusion: Winter peak in varicella incidence is positively associated with high accumulation of people in the large cities (>75,000 inhabitants).
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatina T Todorova
- Department of Microbiology & Virology, Medical University Varna, Faculty of Medicine, Varna, Bulgaria
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25
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Paguio JA, Yao JS, Dee EC. Silver lining of COVID-19: Heightened global interest in pneumococcal and influenza vaccines, an infodemiology study. Vaccine 2020; 38:5430-5435. [PMID: 32620371 PMCID: PMC7315971 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.06.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Revised: 06/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Health-seeking behaviors change during pandemics and may increase with regard to illnesses with symptoms similar to the pandemic. The global reaction to COVID-19 may drive interest in vaccines for other diseases. OBJECTIVES Our study investigated the correlation between global online interest in COVID-19 and interest in CDC-recommended routine vaccines. DESIGN, SETTINGS, MEASUREMENTS This infodemiology study used Google Trends data to quantify worldwide interest in COVID-19 and CDC-recommended vaccines using the unit search volume index (SVI), which estimates volume of online search activity relative to highest volume of searches within a specified period. SVIs from December 30, 2019 to March 30, 2020 were collected for "coronavirus (Virus)" and compared with SVIs of search terms related to CDC-recommended adult vaccines. To account for seasonal variation, we compared SVIs from December 30, 2019 to March 30, 2020 with SVIs from the same months in 2015 to 2019. We performed country-level analyses in ten COVID-19 hotspots and ten countries with low disease burden. RESULTS There were significant positive correlations between SVIs for "coronavirus (Virus)" and search terms for pneumococcal (R = 0.89, p < 0.0001) and influenza vaccines (R = 0.93, p < 0.0001) in 2020, which were greater than SVIs for the same terms in 2015-2019 (p = 0.005, p < 0.0001, respectively). Eight in ten COVID-19 hotspots demonstrated significant positive correlations between SVIs for coronavirus and search terms for pneumococcal and influenza vaccines. LIMITATIONS SVIs estimate relative changes in online interest and do not represent the interest of people with no Internet access. CONCLUSION A peak in worldwide interest in pneumococcal and influenza vaccines coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in February and March 2020. Trends are likely not seasonal in origin and may be driven by COVID-19 hotspots. Global events may change public perception about the importance of vaccines. Our findings may herald higher demand for pneumonia and influenza vaccines in the upcoming season.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jasper Seth Yao
- University of the Philippines College of Medicine, Philippines
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26
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Shahmanesh M, Harling G, Coltart CEM, Bailey H, King C, Gibbs J, Seeley J, Phillips A, Sabin CA, Aldridge RW, Sonnenberg P, Hart G, Rowson M, Pillay D, Johnson AM, Abubakar I, Field N. From the micro to the macro to improve health: microorganism ecology and society in teaching infectious disease epidemiology. THE LANCET. INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2020; 20:e142-e147. [PMID: 32386611 PMCID: PMC7252039 DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30136-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Chronic and emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance remain a substantial global health threat. Microbiota are increasingly recognised to play an important role in health. Infections also have a profound effect beyond health, especially on global and local economies. To maximise health improvements, the field of infectious disease epidemiology needs to derive learning from ecology and traditional epidemiology. New methodologies and tools are transforming understanding of these systems, from a better understanding of socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural drivers of infection, to improved methods to detect microorganisms, describe the immunome, and understand the role of human microbiota. However, exploiting the potential of novel methods to improve global health remains elusive. We argue that to exploit these advances a shift is required in the teaching of infectious disease epidemiology to ensure that students are well versed in a breadth of disciplines, while maintaining core epidemiological skills. We discuss the following key points using a series of teaching vignettes: (1) integrated training in classic and novel techniques is needed to develop future scientists and professionals who can work from the micro (interactions between pathogens, their cohabiting microbiota, and the host at a molecular and cellular level), with the meso (the affected communities), and to the macro (wider contextual drivers of disease); (2) teach students to use a team-science multidisciplinary approach to effectively integrate biological, clinical, epidemiological, and social tools into public health; and (3) develop the intellectual skills to critically engage with emerging technologies and resolve evolving ethical dilemmas. Finally, students should appreciate that the voices of communities affected by infection need to be kept at the heart of their work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Shahmanesh
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.
| | - Guy Harling
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa; MRC/Wits-Agincourt Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Heather Bailey
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Carina King
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK; Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Jo Gibbs
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Janet Seeley
- Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Andrew Phillips
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Caroline A Sabin
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Robert W Aldridge
- Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, UK
| | - Pam Sonnenberg
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Graham Hart
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Mike Rowson
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Deenan Pillay
- Division of infection and immunity, University College London, London, UK; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa
| | - Anne M Johnson
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ibrahim Abubakar
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nigel Field
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
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Becker AD, Zhou SH, Wesolowski A, Grenfell BT. Coexisting attractors in the context of cross-scale population dynamics: measles in London as a case study. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20191510. [PMID: 32315586 PMCID: PMC7211440 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Patterns of measles infection in large urban populations have long been considered the paradigm of synchronized nonlinear dynamics. Indeed, recurrent epidemics appear approximately mass-action despite underlying heterogeneity. However, using a subset of rich, newly digitized mortality data (1897–1906), we challenge that proposition. We find that sub-regions of London exhibited a mixture of simultaneous annual and biennial dynamics, while the aggregate city-level dynamics appears firmly annual. Using a simple stochastic epidemic model and maximum-likelihood inference methods, we show that we can capture this observed variation in periodicity. We identify agreement between theory and data, indicating that both changes in periodicity and epidemic coupling between regions can follow relatively simple rules; in particular we find local variation in seasonality drives periodicity. Our analysis underlines that multiple attractors can coexist in a strongly mixed population and follow theoretical predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D Becker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Susan H Zhou
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Amy Wesolowski
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Bryan T Grenfell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.,Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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Barros JM, Duggan J, Rebholz-Schuhmann D. The Application of Internet-Based Sources for Public Health Surveillance (Infoveillance): Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2020; 22:e13680. [PMID: 32167477 PMCID: PMC7101503 DOI: 10.2196/13680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Public health surveillance is based on the continuous and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. This informs the development of early warning systems to monitor epidemics and documents the impact of intervention measures. The introduction of digital data sources, and specifically sources available on the internet, has impacted the field of public health surveillance. New opportunities enabled by the underlying availability and scale of internet-based sources (IBSs) have paved the way for novel approaches for disease surveillance, exploration of health communities, and the study of epidemic dynamics. This field and approach is also known as infodemiology or infoveillance. Objective This review aimed to assess research findings regarding the application of IBSs for public health surveillance (infodemiology or infoveillance). To achieve this, we have presented a comprehensive systematic literature review with a focus on these sources and their limitations, the diseases targeted, and commonly applied methods. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted targeting publications between 2012 and 2018 that leveraged IBSs for public health surveillance, outbreak forecasting, disease characterization, diagnosis prediction, content analysis, and health-topic identification. The search results were filtered according to previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results Spanning a total of 162 publications, we determined infectious diseases to be the preferred case study (108/162, 66.7%). Of the eight categories of IBSs (search queries, social media, news, discussion forums, websites, web encyclopedia, and online obituaries), search queries and social media were applied in 95.1% (154/162) of the reviewed publications. We also identified limitations in representativeness and biased user age groups, as well as high susceptibility to media events by search queries, social media, and web encyclopedias. Conclusions IBSs are a valuable proxy to study illnesses affecting the general population; however, it is important to characterize which diseases are best suited for the available sources; the literature shows that the level of engagement among online platforms can be a potential indicator. There is a necessity to understand the population’s online behavior; in addition, the exploration of health information dissemination and its content is significantly unexplored. With this information, we can understand how the population communicates about illnesses online and, in the process, benefit public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana M Barros
- Insight Centre for Data Analytics, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.,School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Jim Duggan
- School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
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Rampally V, Mondal H, Mondal S. Global search trends on common vaccine-related information in English on the Internet. J Family Med Prim Care 2020; 9:698-705. [PMID: 32318405 PMCID: PMC7113945 DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1001_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Revised: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The knowledge about Internet search trends helps to know the information-seeking behavior of the Internet users and this would help in formulating Information Education and Communication strategy. AIM The aim of this study was to explore the global Internet search trends about vaccine-related information in English. MATERIALS AND METHODS First, we conducted a pilot interview with 15 participants (convenience sample from a tertiary care hospital) to make a list of five common query keywords (viz., When, Where, Cost, Side effect, Schedule) for vaccine-related search. Then, we obtained the search trends from "Google trends" for 5 years with the five query keywords prefixed with vaccine (e.g. vaccine when). In the second phase, individual vaccine search was conducted with a particular vaccine name and query keyword (e.g. measles vaccine side effect). RESULTS Five-year search trend showed that the highest volume of search was for "schedule" (36.79%), followed by "when" (26.57%), "cost" (21.97%), and "where" (11.99%). The "side effect" showed the lowest volume of search (2.68%) (χ2 = 10595, P < 0.0001). The search volume was increased over the years. The highest volume of the "when" and "where" were searched from the USA. The "cost" was searched in the highest volume from Australia. "Side effect" and "schedule" of the vaccine were searched with the highest volume from Philippines and Nepal, respectively. CONCLUSION This study provides a glimpse of global vaccine-related search trends over a period of 5 years. Information on the "schedule" and "when" to get the vaccine should be strengthened for wider dissemination of knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijay Rampally
- Department of General Medicine, ESI Medical College, Sanath Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | - Himel Mondal
- Department of Physiology, Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital, Balangir, Odisha, India
| | - Shaikat Mondal
- Department of Physiology, Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India
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Role of Social Media as a Soft Power Tool in Raising Public Awareness and Engagement in Addressing Climate Change. CLIMATE 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/cli7100122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Climate change has been one of the most debated topics in the past few decades, but a number of challenges have hindered the development of robust policies and strategies by nations. At the same time, social media platforms—such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook—have given the opportunity for the general public to share opinions and engage with the issue of climate change like never before. This phenomenon is considered to be a new form of soft power which can provide input into the discussion and possibly affect the current international political mechanisms. The present paper aims to (1) define the forms and characteristics of social media as a soft power method, (2) analyze its influence on the awareness of societies, and (3) assess if increased public awareness could influence the official political and policy processes. In order to assess if social media has influence on people’s relative awareness, we have focused on analyzing the links between a few highly visible climate change related events and the trends in people’s searches on the Internet in connection to those events. The study finds that even though it is difficult to assess the effects of social media as a soft power tool with certainty, there are visible links between social media and changing public perceptions, with the possibility of public opinion influencing political decision-making.
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Quintanilha LF, Souza LN, Sanches D, Demarco RS, Fukutani KF. The impact of cancer campaigns in Brazil: a Google Trends analysis. Ecancermedicalscience 2019; 13:963. [PMID: 31645890 PMCID: PMC6786828 DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2019.963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
It is estimated that more than 600,000 new cases of cancer will be reported in Brazil during the 2018-2019 biennium, especially with regard to prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancers. Due to the high prevalence, incidence and mortality rates of these diseases, cancer campaigns such as 'Pink October' and 'Blue November' were strongly promoted in the past decade throughout the country to raise awareness of breast and prostate cancer, respectively. Nevertheless, whether the implementation of these campaigns has been proven efficient is still unknown. In the present study, we analysed the effectiveness of these campaigns on eliciting population online interest for cancer information. The Google Trends database was evaluated for the relative Internet search popularity for the terms 'breast cancer' and 'prostate cancer' from 2014 to 2019. Aside from some regional differences, we found that there was a high demand for 'breast cancer' and, to a lesser extent, 'prostate cancer' searches in a seasonal fashion (during October and November, respectively). Despite the worldwide high incidence of lung and colorectal cancers, searches including these keywords did not show increases in any specific period of the year, demonstrating the efficiency of the 'Pink October' and 'Blue November' campaigns in engaging the interest of the Brazilian population on the subject. These results allow us to infer that campaigns are effective in mobilising the attention of the Brazilian population with regard to breast and prostate cancers, but the practical aspects in reducing incidence and mortality should still be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz Fernando Quintanilha
- Universidade Salvador, Laureate Universities, Salvador 41770-235, Brazil
- Centro Universitário FTC, Faculdade de Medicina, Salvador 41741-590, Brazil
| | - Laumar Neves Souza
- Universidade Salvador, Laureate Universities, Salvador 41770-235, Brazil
| | - Daniel Sanches
- Division of Arts and Sciences, South Florida State College, Avon Park, FL 33825, USA
| | | | - Kiyoshi Ferreira Fukutani
- Centro Universitário FTC, Faculdade de Medicina, Salvador 41741-590, Brazil
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador 40296-710, Brazil
- Multinational Organization Network Sponsoring Translational and Epidemiological Research (MONSTER) Initiative, Fundação José Silveira, Salvador 40210-320, Brazil
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Barros JM, Melia R, Francis K, Bogue J, O'Sullivan M, Young K, Bernert RA, Rebholz-Schuhmann D, Duggan J. The Validity of Google Trends Search Volumes for Behavioral Forecasting of National Suicide Rates in Ireland. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:E3201. [PMID: 31480718 PMCID: PMC6747463 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16173201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Revised: 08/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Annual suicide figures are critical in identifying trends and guiding research, yet challenges arising from significant lags in reporting can delay and complicate real-time interventions. In this paper, we utilized Google Trends search volumes for behavioral forecasting of national suicide rates in Ireland between 2004 and 2015. Official suicide rates are recorded by the Central Statistics Office in Ireland. While similar investigations using Google trends data have been carried out in other jurisdictions (e.g., United Kingdom, United Stated of America), such research had not yet been completed in Ireland. We compiled a collection of suicide- and depression-related search terms suggested by Google Trends and manually sourced from the literature. Monthly search rate terms at different lags were compared with suicide occurrences to determine the degree of correlation. Following two approaches based on vector autoregression and neural network autoregression, we achieved mean absolute error values between 4.14 and 9.61 when incorporating search query data, with the highest performance for the neural network approach. The application of this process to United Kingdom suicide and search query data showed similar results, supporting the benefit of Google Trends, neural network approach, and the applied search terms to forecast suicide risk increase. Overall, the combination of societal data and online behavior provide a good indication of societal risks; building on past research, our improvements led to robust models integrating search query and unemployment data for suicide risk forecasting in Ireland.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana M Barros
- Insight Centre for Data Analytics, NUI Galway, H91 AEX4 Galway, Ireland.
- School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
| | - Ruth Melia
- Psychology Department, Health Service Executive MidWest, Ennis, Ireland
| | - Kady Francis
- Psychology Department, Health Service Executive Dublin Mid Leinster, Longford, Ireland
| | - John Bogue
- School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, H91 EV56 Galway, Ireland
| | - Mary O'Sullivan
- Suicide Prevention Resource Office, Health Service Executive West, Galway, Ireland
| | - Karen Young
- School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Rebecca A Bernert
- Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5717, USA
| | | | - Jim Duggan
- School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
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Engert LC, Weiler U, Pfaffinger B, Stefanski V, Schmucker SS. Photoperiodic Effects on Diurnal Rhythms in Cell Numbers of Peripheral Leukocytes in Domestic Pigs. Front Immunol 2019; 10:393. [PMID: 30915069 PMCID: PMC6422931 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The photoperiod is known to modulate immune cell number and function and is regarded essential for seasonal disease susceptibility. In addition, diurnal variations in the immune system are regarded important for immune competence. Whereas few studies investigated the influence of season, none investigated the specific effect of the photoperiod on these diurnal immune rhythms until now. Therefore, the present study compared diurnal rhythms in cell numbers of peripheral leukocyte types in domestic pigs held either under long day conditions (LD) or short day conditions (SD). Cosinor analyses of cell numbers of various peripheral leukocyte subtypes investigated over periods of 50 h revealed distinct photoperiodic differences in diurnal immune rhythms. Relative amplitudes of cell numbers of total leukocytes, NK cells, T cells, and monocytes in blood were higher under SD than LD. In addition, cell counts of total leukocytes, NK cells, T cells including various T cell subtypes, and eosinophils peaked earlier relative to the time of lights-on under SD than LD. In contrast, diurnal rhythms of neutrophil counts did not show photoperiodic differences. Mesor values did not differ in any leukocyte type. Generalized linear mixed model analyses revealed associations of leukocyte counts with plasma cortisol concentration and activity behavior in most investigated cell types. Moreover, the present study demonstrated photoperiodic effects on diurnal rhythms in plasma cortisol concentrations and activity behavior, which is in agreement with human and primate studies. The results of the present study imply stronger rhythmicity in leukocyte counts in general under SD. Common intrinsic mechanisms seem to regulate photoperiodic effects on diurnal rhythms in leukocyte counts, except for neutrophils, in domestic pigs. Our results reveal considerable insights into the regulation of immune rhythms in diurnally active species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa C Engert
- Behavioral Physiology of Livestock, Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ulrike Weiler
- Behavioral Physiology of Livestock, Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Birgit Pfaffinger
- Behavioral Physiology of Livestock, Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Volker Stefanski
- Behavioral Physiology of Livestock, Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Sonja S Schmucker
- Behavioral Physiology of Livestock, Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION There may be seasonality in thyroid diseases and internet search data may provide information on disease patterns. In this study we used data from internet searches on hypothyroidism to assess seasonality in this disease. METHODS We collected worldwide data, as well as data for countries in the southern hemisphere (Brazil, South Africa, and Australia), covering 15 years, from Google Trends with the search term "hypothyroidism+thyroiditis (the commonest cause of hypothyroidism)" and "fatigue+weakness (the commonest symptoms of hypothyroidism)". We looked for periodicity in relevant internet searches by calculating autocorrelations; we also looked at the cross-correlation of internet searches for "hypothyroidism+thyroiditis" and "fatigue+weakness" and we compared the results by season with the Kruskall-Wallis test. RESULTS There was periodicity in the relevant internet searches and strong cross-correlations between internet searches for "hypothyroidism+thyroiditis" and "fatigue+weakness" worldwide and for South Africa and Australia. In both the northern and the southern hemispheres there were significantly more hypothyroidism-related internet searches during spring (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Hypothyroidism was more popular in internet searches at springtime in the northern and the southern hemispheres. Thus, although this analysis is coarse, it seems that some seasonality can be inferred on hypothyroidism, taking into account the limitations of our approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Ilias
- Internal Medicine, Elena Venizelou Hospital, Athens, GRC
| | - Maria Alexiou
- Internal Medicine, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury, GBR
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Mavragani A, Ochoa G, Tsagarakis KP. Assessing the Methods, Tools, and Statistical Approaches in Google Trends Research: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2018; 20:e270. [PMID: 30401664 PMCID: PMC6246971 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.9366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Revised: 05/07/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background In the era of information overload, are big data analytics the answer to access and better manage available knowledge? Over the last decade, the use of Web-based data in public health issues, that is, infodemiology, has been proven useful in assessing various aspects of human behavior. Google Trends is the most popular tool to gather such information, and it has been used in several topics up to this point, with health and medicine being the most focused subject. Web-based behavior is monitored and analyzed in order to examine actual human behavior so as to predict, better assess, and even prevent health-related issues that constantly arise in everyday life. Objective This systematic review aimed at reporting and further presenting and analyzing the methods, tools, and statistical approaches for Google Trends (infodemiology) studies in health-related topics from 2006 to 2016 to provide an overview of the usefulness of said tool and be a point of reference for future research on the subject. Methods Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for selecting studies, we searched for the term “Google Trends” in the Scopus and PubMed databases from 2006 to 2016, applying specific criteria for types of publications and topics. A total of 109 published papers were extracted, excluding duplicates and those that did not fall inside the topics of health and medicine or the selected article types. We then further categorized the published papers according to their methodological approach, namely, visualization, seasonality, correlations, forecasting, and modeling. Results All the examined papers comprised, by definition, time series analysis, and all but two included data visualization. A total of 23.1% (24/104) studies used Google Trends data for examining seasonality, while 39.4% (41/104) and 32.7% (34/104) of the studies used correlations and modeling, respectively. Only 8.7% (9/104) of the studies used Google Trends data for predictions and forecasting in health-related topics; therefore, it is evident that a gap exists in forecasting using Google Trends data. Conclusions The monitoring of online queries can provide insight into human behavior, as this field is significantly and continuously growing and will be proven more than valuable in the future for assessing behavioral changes and providing ground for research using data that could not have been accessed otherwise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amaryllis Mavragani
- Department of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriela Ochoa
- Department of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Lam HM, Wesolowski A, Hung NT, Nguyen TD, Nhat NTD, Todd S, Vinh DN, Vy NHT, Thao TTN, Thanh NTL, Tin PT, Minh NNQ, Bryant JE, Buckee CO, Ngoc TV, Chau NVV, Thwaites GE, Farrar J, Tam DTH, Vinh H, Boni MF. Nonannual seasonality of influenza-like illness in a tropical urban setting. Influenza Other Respir Viruses 2018; 12:742-754. [PMID: 30044029 PMCID: PMC6185894 DOI: 10.1111/irv.12595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Revised: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In temperate and subtropical climates, respiratory diseases exhibit seasonal peaks in winter. In the tropics, with no winter, peak timings are irregular. METHODS To obtain a detailed picture of influenza-like illness (ILI) patterns in the tropics, we established an mHealth study in community clinics in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). During 2009-2015, clinics reported daily case numbers via SMS, with a subset performing molecular diagnostics for influenza virus. This real-time epidemiology network absorbs 6000 ILI reports annually, one or two orders of magnitude more than typical surveillance systems. A real-time online ILI indicator was developed to inform clinicians of the daily ILI activity in HCMC. RESULTS From August 2009 to December 2015, 63 clinics were enrolled and 36 920 SMS reports were received, covering approximately 1.7M outpatient visits. Approximately 10.6% of outpatients met the ILI case definition. ILI activity in HCMC exhibited strong nonannual dynamics with a dominant periodicity of 206 days. This was confirmed by time series decomposition, stepwise regression, and a forecasting exercise showing that median forecasting errors are 30%-40% lower when using a 206-day cycle. In ILI patients from whom nasopharyngeal swabs were taken, 31.2% were positive for influenza. There was no correlation between the ILI time series and the time series of influenza, influenza A, or influenza B (all P > 0.15). CONCLUSION This suggests, for the first time, that a nonannual cycle may be an essential driver of respiratory disease dynamics in the tropics. An immunological interference hypothesis is discussed as a potential underlying mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ha Minh Lam
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Amy Wesolowski
- Center for Communicable Disease DynamicsDepartment of EpidemiologyHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBostonMassachusetts
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonNew Jersey
| | - Nguyen Thanh Hung
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Tran Dang Nguyen
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Nguyen Thi Duy Nhat
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Stacy Todd
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Liverpool School of Tropical MedicineLiverpoolUK
| | - Dao Nguyen Vinh
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Nguyen Ha Thao Vy
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Tran Thi Nhu Thao
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Nguyen Thi Le Thanh
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | | | - Ngo Ngoc Quang Minh
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Children's Hospital No. 1Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Juliet E. Bryant
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global HealthNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Caroline O. Buckee
- Center for Communicable Disease DynamicsDepartment of EpidemiologyHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthBostonMassachusetts
| | - Tran Van Ngoc
- Hospital for Tropical DiseasesHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | | | - Guy E. Thwaites
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global HealthNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Jeremy Farrar
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Wellcome TrustLondonUK
| | - Dong Thi Hoai Tam
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Ha Vinh
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Hospital for Tropical DiseasesHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Department of Infectious DiseasesPham Ngoc Thach University of MedicineHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
| | - Maciej F. Boni
- Oxford University Clinical Research UnitWellcome Trust Major Overseas ProgrammeHo Chi Minh CityVietnam
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global HealthNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Center for Infectious Disease DynamicsDepartment of BiologyPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkPennsylvania
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Affiliation(s)
- Micaela Elvira Martinez
- Climate & Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
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Scrutton Alvarado N, Stevenson TJ. Appetitive information seeking behaviour reveals robust daily rhythmicity for Internet-based food-related keyword searches. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:172080. [PMID: 30109051 PMCID: PMC6083665 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
There has been an exponential growth of information seeking behaviour (ISB) via Internet-based programs over the past decade. The availability of software that record ISB temporal patterns has provided a valuable opportunity to examine biological rhythms in human behaviour. Internet search repositories, such as Google Trends, permit the analyses of large datasets that can be used to track ISB on a domestic and international scale. We examined daily and seasonal Google Trends search patterns for keywords related to food intake, using the most relevant search terms for the USA, UK, Canada, India and Australia. Daily and seasonal ISB rhythmicity were analysed using CircWave v. 1.4. Daily ISB data revealed a robust and significant sine waveform for general terms (e.g. 'pizza delivery') and country-specific search terms (e.g. 'just eat'). The pattern revealed clear evening double-peaks, occurring every day at 19.00 and 02.00. The patterns were consistent across search terms, days of the week and geographical locations, suggesting a common ISB rhythm that is not necessarily culture-dependent. Then, we conducted Cosinor v. 2.4 analyses to examine the daily amplitudes in ISB. The results indicated a non-significant linear increased from Monday to Sunday. Seasonal data did not show consistent significant ISB patterns. It is likely that two different human populations are responsible for the daily 'early' and 'late' evening ISB peaks. We propose that the major factor that contributes to the bimodal evening peak is age-dependent (e.g. adolescent, early adulthood versus midlife and mature adulthood) and a minor role for human chronotypes (e.g. late versus early). Overall, we present novel human appetitive behaviour for information seeking of food resources and propose that Internet-based search patterns reflect a biological rhythm of motivation for energy balance.
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Kaveh-Yazdy F, Zareh-Bidoki AM. Search engines, news wires and digital epidemiology: Presumptions and facts. Int J Med Inform 2018; 115:53-63. [PMID: 29779720 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2017] [Revised: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 03/31/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Digital epidemiology tries to identify diseases dynamics and spread behaviors using digital traces collected via search engines logs and social media posts. However, the impacts of news on information-seeking behaviors have been remained unknown. METHODS Data employed in this research provided from two sources, (1) Parsijoo search engine query logs of 48 months, and (2) a set of documents of 28 months of Parsijoo's news service. Two classes of topics, i.e. macro-topics and micro-topics were selected to be tracked in query logs and news. Keywords of the macro-topics were automatically generated using web provided resources and exceeded 10k. Keyword set of micro-topics were limited to a numerable list including terms related to diseases and health-related activities. The tests are established in the form of three studies. Study A includes temporal analyses of 7 macro-topics in query logs. Study B considers analyzing seasonality of searching patterns of 9 micro-topics, and Study C assesses the impact of news media coverage on users' health-related information-seeking behaviors. RESULTS Study A showed that the hourly distribution of various macro-topics followed the changes in social activity level. Conversely, the interestingness of macro-topics did not follow the regulation of topic distributions. Among macro-topics, "Pharmacotherapy" has highest interestingness level and wider time-window of popularity. In Study B, seasonality of a limited number of diseases and health-related activities were analyzed. Trends of infectious diseases, such as flu, mumps and chicken pox were seasonal. Due to seasonality of most of diseases covered in national vaccination plans, the trend belonging to "Immunization and Vaccination" was seasonal, as well. Cancer awareness events caused peaks in search trends of "Cancer" and "Screening" micro-topics in specific days of each year that mimic repeated patterns which may mistakenly be identified as seasonality. In study C, we assessed the co-integration and correlation between news and query trends. Our results demonstrated that micro-topics sparsely covered in news media had lowest level of impressiveness and, subsequently, the lowest impact on users' intents. CONCLUSION Our results can reveal public reaction to social events, diseases and prevention procedures. Furthermore, we found that news trends are co-integrated with search queries and are able to reveal health-related events; however, they cannot be used interchangeably. It is recommended that the user-generated contents and news documents are analyzed mutually and interactively.
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Oren E, Frere J, Yom-Tov E, Yom-Tov E. Respiratory syncytial virus tracking using internet search engine data. BMC Public Health 2018; 18:445. [PMID: 29615018 PMCID: PMC5883276 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5367-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 03/22/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization in children less than 1 year of age in the United States. Internet search engine queries may provide high resolution temporal and spatial data to estimate and predict disease activity. Methods After filtering an initial list of 613 symptoms using high-resolution Bing search logs, we used Google Trends data between 2004 and 2016 for a smaller list of 50 terms to build predictive models of RSV incidence for five states where long-term surveillance data was available. We then used domain adaptation to model RSV incidence for the 45 remaining US states. Results Surveillance data sources (hospitalization and laboratory reports) were highly correlated, as were laboratory reports with search engine data. The four terms which were most often statistically significantly correlated as time series with the surveillance data in the five state models were RSV, flu, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis. Using our models, we tracked the spread of RSV by observing the time of peak use of the search term in different states. In general, the RSV peak moved from south-east (Florida) to the north-west US. Conclusions Our study represents the first time that RSV has been tracked using Internet data results and highlights successful use of search filters and domain adaptation techniques, using data at multiple resolutions. Our approach may assist in identifying spread of both local and more widespread RSV transmission and may be applicable to other seasonal conditions where comprehensive epidemiological data is difficult to collect or obtain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eyal Oren
- Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA. .,Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Arizona College of Public Health, Tucson, AZ, USA.
| | - Justin Frere
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Arizona College of Public Health, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Bragazzi NL, Gianfredi V, Villarini M, Rosselli R, Nasr A, Hussein A, Martini M, Behzadifar M. Vaccines Meet Big Data: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects. From the Classical 3Is ("Isolate-Inactivate-Inject") Vaccinology 1.0 to Vaccinology 3.0, Vaccinomics, and Beyond: A Historical Overview. Front Public Health 2018; 6:62. [PMID: 29556492 PMCID: PMC5845111 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccines are public health interventions aimed at preventing infections-related mortality, morbidity, and disability. While vaccines have been successfully designed for those infectious diseases preventable by preexisting neutralizing specific antibodies, for other communicable diseases, additional immunological mechanisms should be elicited to achieve a full protection. “New vaccines” are particularly urgent in the nowadays society, in which economic growth, globalization, and immigration are leading to the emergence/reemergence of old and new infectious agents at the animal–human interface. Conventional vaccinology (the so-called “vaccinology 1.0”) was officially born in 1796 thanks to the contribution of Edward Jenner. Entering the twenty-first century, vaccinology has shifted from a classical discipline in which serendipity and the Pasteurian principle of the three Is (isolate, inactivate, and inject) played a major role to a science, characterized by a rational design and plan (“vaccinology 3.0”). This shift has been possible thanks to Big Data, characterized by different dimensions, such as high volume, velocity, and variety of data. Big Data sources include new cutting-edge, high-throughput technologies, electronic registries, social media, and social networks, among others. The current mini-review aims at exploring the potential roles as well as pitfalls and challenges of Big Data in shaping the future vaccinology, moving toward a tailored and personalized vaccine design and administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Luigi Bragazzi
- Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Vincenza Gianfredi
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Unit of Public Health, School of Specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Milena Villarini
- Unit of Public Health, Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | | | - Ahmed Nasr
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Pathology University Milan Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
| | - Amr Hussein
- Medical Faculty, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Mariano Martini
- Section of History of Medicine and Ethics, Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Masoud Behzadifar
- Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Bretó C. Modeling and inference for infectious disease dynamics: a likelihood-based approach. Stat Sci 2018; 33:57-69. [PMID: 29755198 DOI: 10.1214/17-sts636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Likelihood-based statistical inference has been considered in most scientific fields involving stochastic modeling. This includes infectious disease dynamics, where scientific understanding can help capture biological processes in so-called mechanistic models and their likelihood functions. However, when the likelihood of such mechanistic models lacks a closed-form expression, computational burdens are substantial. In this context, algorithmic advances have facilitated likelihood maximization, promoting the study of novel data-motivated mechanistic models over the last decade. Reviewing these models is the focus of this paper. In particular, we highlight statistical aspects of these models like overdispersion, which is key in the interface between nonlinear infectious disease modeling and data analysis. We also point out potential directions for further model exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carles Bretó
- Department of Statistics, University of Michigan, 1085 South University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107
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Aguirre PE, Coelho M, Oliveira T, Rios D, Cruvinel AF, Cruvinel T. What Can Google Inform Us about People's Interests regarding Dental Caries in Different Populations? Caries Res 2018; 52:177-188. [PMID: 29353276 DOI: 10.1159/000485107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The diagnosis or suspicion of dental caries can lead people to seek additional information on the Internet through the use of structured queries in search engine tools. This action generates a considerable volume of data, which can be analyzed to provide a better understanding of the public's behavior linked to the consumption of oral health information. This study aimed to assess the volume and profile of web searches on dental caries-related queries performed by Google users from different countries. The monthly variation of the Search Volume Index (SVI) for dental caries was obtained in Google Trends for the period between January 2004 and September 2016. The validity of SVI data was assessed by their levels of stability and correlation with the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for permanent teeth. In all countries, a trend of an increasing interest of Google users in dental caries issues was revealed by the comparison of the means observed in the predictive models and those in the last 12 months. The interest levels varied throughout the year, with the observation of the highest SVI values in the spring and the lowest in the summer. The most popular queries were markedly associated with symptoms and treatments, with a little interest in prevention. In conclusion, the use of Internet data mining could be helpful in establishing the dental needs of specific population groups in a near real-time, since the web consumption of dental information is increasing in importance and appears to have a direct relation with untreated dental caries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Estefania Aguirre
- Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics and Public Health, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, Bauru, Brazil
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Abstract
Complex adaptive systems exhibit characteristic dynamics near tipping points such as critical slowing down (declining resilience to perturbations). We studied Twitter and Google search data about measles from California and the United States before and after the 2014–2015 Disneyland, California measles outbreak. We find critical slowing down starting a few years before the outbreak. However, population response to the outbreak causes resilience to increase afterward. A mathematical model of measles transmission and population vaccine sentiment predicts the same patterns. Crucially, critical slowing down begins long before a system actually reaches a tipping point. Thus, it may be possible to develop analytical tools to detect populations at heightened risk of a future episode of widespread vaccine refusal. Vaccine refusal can lead to renewed outbreaks of previously eliminated diseases and even delay global eradication. Vaccinating decisions exemplify a complex, coupled system where vaccinating behavior and disease dynamics influence one another. Such systems often exhibit critical phenomena—special dynamics close to a tipping point leading to a new dynamical regime. For instance, critical slowing down (declining rate of recovery from small perturbations) may emerge as a tipping point is approached. Here, we collected and geocoded tweets about measles–mumps–rubella vaccine and classified their sentiment using machine-learning algorithms. We also extracted data on measles-related Google searches. We find critical slowing down in the data at the level of California and the United States in the years before and after the 2014–2015 Disneyland, California measles outbreak. Critical slowing down starts growing appreciably several years before the Disneyland outbreak as vaccine uptake declines and the population approaches the tipping point. However, due to the adaptive nature of coupled behavior–disease systems, the population responds to the outbreak by moving away from the tipping point, causing “critical speeding up” whereby resilience to perturbations increases. A mathematical model of measles transmission and vaccine sentiment predicts the same qualitative patterns in the neighborhood of a tipping point to greatly reduced vaccine uptake and large epidemics. These results support the hypothesis that population vaccinating behavior near the disease elimination threshold is a critical phenomenon. Developing new analytical tools to detect these patterns in digital social data might help us identify populations at heightened risk of widespread vaccine refusal.
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Abstract
Objectives: To summarize current research in the field of Public Health and Epidemiology Informatics. Methods: The complete 2016 literature concerning public health and epidemiology informatics has been searched in PubMed and Web of Science, and the returned references were reviewed by the two section editors to select 14 candidate best papers. These papers were then peer-reviewed by external reviewers to allow the editorial team an enlightened selection of the best papers. Results: Among the 829 references retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science, three were finally selected as best papers. The first one compares Google, Twitter, and Wikipedia as tools for Influenza surveillance. The second paper presents a Geographic Knowledge-Based Model for mapping suitable areas for Rift Valley fever transmission in Eastern Africa. The last paper evaluates the factors associated with the visit of Facebook pages devoted to Public Health Communication. Conclusions: Surveillance is still a productive topic in public health informatics but other very important topics in public health are appearing.
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Utility and potential of rapid epidemic intelligence from internet-based sources. Int J Infect Dis 2017; 63:77-87. [PMID: 28765076 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2017.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2017] [Revised: 07/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Rapid epidemic detection is an important objective of surveillance to enable timely intervention, but traditional validated surveillance data may not be available in the required timeframe for acute epidemic control. Increasing volumes of data on the Internet have prompted interest in methods that could use unstructured sources to enhance traditional disease surveillance and gain rapid epidemic intelligence. We aimed to summarise Internet-based methods that use freely-accessible, unstructured data for epidemic surveillance and explore their timeliness and accuracy outcomes. METHODS Steps outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist were used to guide a systematic review of research related to the use of informal or unstructured data by Internet-based intelligence methods for surveillance. RESULTS We identified 84 articles published between 2006-2016 relating to Internet-based public health surveillance methods. Studies used search queries, social media posts and approaches derived from existing Internet-based systems for early epidemic alerts and real-time monitoring. Most studies noted improved timeliness compared to official reporting, such as in the 2014 Ebola epidemic where epidemic alerts were generated first from ProMED-mail. Internet-based methods showed variable correlation strength with official datasets, with some methods showing reasonable accuracy. CONCLUSION The proliferation of publicly available information on the Internet provided a new avenue for epidemic intelligence. Methodologies have been developed to collect Internet data and some systems are already used to enhance the timeliness of traditional surveillance systems. To improve the utility of Internet-based systems, the key attributes of timeliness and data accuracy should be included in future evaluations of surveillance systems.
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Is Google Trends a reliable tool for digital epidemiology? Insights from different clinical settings. J Epidemiol Glob Health 2017; 7:185-189. [PMID: 28756828 PMCID: PMC7320449 DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2017.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Revised: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Internet-derived information has been recently recognized as a valuable tool for epidemiological investigation. Google Trends, a Google Inc. portal, generates data on geographical and temporal patterns according to specified keywords. The aim of this study was to compare the reliability of Google Trends in different clinical settings, for both common diseases with lower media coverage, and for less common diseases attracting major media coverage. We carried out a search in Google Trends using the keywords "renal colic", "epistaxis", and "mushroom poisoning", selected on the basis of available and reliable epidemiological data. Besides this search, we carried out a second search for three clinical conditions (i.e., "meningitis", "Legionella Pneumophila pneumonia", and "Ebola fever"), which recently received major focus by the Italian media. In our analysis, no correlation was found between data captured from Google Trends and epidemiology of renal colics, epistaxis and mushroom poisoning. Only when searching for the term "mushroom" alone the Google Trends search generated a seasonal pattern which almost overlaps with the epidemiological profile, but this was probably mostly due to searches for harvesting and cooking rather than to for poisoning. The Google Trends data also failed to reflect the geographical and temporary patterns of disease for meningitis, Legionella Pneumophila pneumonia and Ebola fever. The results of our study confirm that Google Trends has modest reliability for defining the epidemiology of relatively common diseases with minor media coverage, or relatively rare diseases with higher audience. Overall, Google Trends seems to be more influenced by the media clamor than by true epidemiological burden.
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Gwinn MR, Axelrad DA, Bahadori T, Bussard D, Cascio WE, Deener K, Dix D, Thomas RS, Kavlock RJ, Burke TA. Chemical Risk Assessment: Traditional vs Public Health Perspectives. Am J Public Health 2017; 107:1032-1039. [PMID: 28520487 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2017.303771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Preventing adverse health effects of environmental chemical exposure is fundamental to protecting individual and public health. When done efficiently and properly, chemical risk assessment enables risk management actions that minimize the incidence and effects of environmentally induced diseases related to chemical exposure. However, traditional chemical risk assessment is faced with multiple challenges with respect to predicting and preventing disease in human populations, and epidemiological studies increasingly report observations of adverse health effects at exposure levels predicted from animal studies to be safe for humans. This discordance reinforces concerns about the adequacy of contemporary risk assessment practices for protecting public health. It is becoming clear that to protect public health more effectively, future risk assessments will need to use the full range of available data, draw on innovative methods to integrate diverse data streams, and consider health endpoints that also reflect the range of subtle effects and morbidities observed in human populations. Considering these factors, there is a need to reframe chemical risk assessment to be more clearly aligned with the public health goal of minimizing environmental exposures associated with disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen R Gwinn
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Daniel A Axelrad
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Tina Bahadori
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - David Bussard
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Wayne E Cascio
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Kacee Deener
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - David Dix
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Russell S Thomas
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Robert J Kavlock
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
| | - Thomas A Burke
- At the time of the writing of this article, all of the authors were with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
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50
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Teng Y, Bi D, Xie G, Jin Y, Huang Y, Lin B, An X, Feng D, Tong Y. Dynamic Forecasting of Zika Epidemics Using Google Trends. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0165085. [PMID: 28060809 PMCID: PMC5217860 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Accepted: 12/18/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
We developed a dynamic forecasting model for Zika virus (ZIKV), based on real-time online search data from Google Trends (GTs). It was designed to provide Zika virus disease (ZVD) surveillance and detection for Health Departments, and predictive numbers of infection cases, which would allow them sufficient time to implement interventions. In this study, we found a strong correlation between Zika-related GTs and the cumulative numbers of reported cases (confirmed, suspected and total cases; p<0.001). Then, we used the correlation data from Zika-related online search in GTs and ZIKV epidemics between 12 February and 20 October 2016 to construct an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model (0, 1, 3) for the dynamic estimation of ZIKV outbreaks. The forecasting results indicated that the predicted data by ARIMA model, which used the online search data as the external regressor to enhance the forecasting model and assist the historical epidemic data in improving the quality of the predictions, are quite similar to the actual data during ZIKV epidemic early November 2016. Integer-valued autoregression provides a useful base predictive model for ZVD cases. This is enhanced by the incorporation of GTs data, confirming the prognostic utility of search query based surveillance. This accessible and flexible dynamic forecast model could be used in the monitoring of ZVD to provide advanced warning of future ZIKV outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Teng
- Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (YT); (DF); (YT)
| | - Dehua Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
- Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Guigang Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
- Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Beijing, China
| | - Yong Huang
- Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
| | - Baihan Lin
- Computational Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Physics, and Computer Science and Engineering; Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, United States of America
| | - Xiaoping An
- Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
| | - Dan Feng
- Division of Standard Operational Management, Institute of Hospital Management, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (YT); (DF); (YT)
| | - Yigang Tong
- Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (YT); (DF); (YT)
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