The use and applicability of Internet search queries for infectious disease surveillance in low- to middle- income countries
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The use and applicability of Internet search queries for infectious disease surveillance in low- to middle- income countries. / Beckhaus, Julia; Becher, Heiko; Belau, Matthias.
In: One Health Implement Res, Vol. 2, 24.03.2022, p. 15-28.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Review article › Research
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The use and applicability of Internet search queries for infectious disease surveillance in low- to middle- income countries
AU - Beckhaus, Julia
AU - Becher, Heiko
AU - Belau, Matthias
PY - 2022/3/24
Y1 - 2022/3/24
N2 - Uncontrolled outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases can pose threats to livelihoods and can undo years of progress made in developing regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the surveillance and early outbreak detection of infectious diseases, e.g., Dengue fever, is crucial. As a low-cost and timely source, Internet search queries data [e.g., Google Trends data (GTD)] are used and applied in epidemiological surveillance. This review aims to identify and evaluate relevant studies that used GTD in prediction models for epidemiological surveillance purposes regarding emerging infectious diseases. A comprehensive literature search in PubMed/MEDLINE was carried out, using relevant keywords identified from up-to-date literature and restricted to low- to middle-income countries. Eight studies were identified and included in the current review. Three focused on Dengue fever, three analyzed Zika virus infections, and two were about COVID-19. All studies investigated the correlation between GTD and the cases of the respective infectious disease; five studies used additional (time series) regression analyses to investigate the temporal relation. Overall, the reported positive correlations were high for Zika virus (0.75-0.99) or Dengue fever (0.87-0.94) with GTD, but not for COVID-19 (-0.81 to 0.003). Although the use of GTD appeared effective for infectious disease surveillance in low- to middle-income countries, further research is needed. The low costs and availability remain promising for future surveillance systems in low- to middle-income countries, but there is an urgent need for a standard methodological framework for the use and application of GTD.
AB - Uncontrolled outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases can pose threats to livelihoods and can undo years of progress made in developing regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the surveillance and early outbreak detection of infectious diseases, e.g., Dengue fever, is crucial. As a low-cost and timely source, Internet search queries data [e.g., Google Trends data (GTD)] are used and applied in epidemiological surveillance. This review aims to identify and evaluate relevant studies that used GTD in prediction models for epidemiological surveillance purposes regarding emerging infectious diseases. A comprehensive literature search in PubMed/MEDLINE was carried out, using relevant keywords identified from up-to-date literature and restricted to low- to middle-income countries. Eight studies were identified and included in the current review. Three focused on Dengue fever, three analyzed Zika virus infections, and two were about COVID-19. All studies investigated the correlation between GTD and the cases of the respective infectious disease; five studies used additional (time series) regression analyses to investigate the temporal relation. Overall, the reported positive correlations were high for Zika virus (0.75-0.99) or Dengue fever (0.87-0.94) with GTD, but not for COVID-19 (-0.81 to 0.003). Although the use of GTD appeared effective for infectious disease surveillance in low- to middle-income countries, further research is needed. The low costs and availability remain promising for future surveillance systems in low- to middle-income countries, but there is an urgent need for a standard methodological framework for the use and application of GTD.
U2 - 10.20517/ohir.2022.01
DO - 10.20517/ohir.2022.01
M3 - SCORING: Review article
VL - 2
SP - 15
EP - 28
JO - One Health Implement Res
JF - One Health Implement Res
SN - 2769-6413
ER -