Digital public interest on coronavirus information and social distancing: a Brazilian nationwide analysis using an infodemiology approach

Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho; Adriano Antunes de Souza Araújo; Lucindo José Quintans-Júnior; Victor Santana Santos

doi:10.1093/jtm/taaa154

Digital public interest on coronavirus information and social distancing: a Brazilian nationwide analysis using an infodemiology approach

J Travel Med. 2021 Feb 23;28(2):taaa154. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa154.

Authors

Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho¹, Adriano Antunes de Souza Araújo², Lucindo José Quintans-Júnior³, Victor Santana Santos⁴

Affiliations

¹ Investigative Pathology Laboratory, Federal University of Sergipe, Rua Cláudio Batista, s/n. Sanatório, Aracaju, SE, 49060-100, Sergipe, Brazil.
² Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Sergipe, Av. Marechal Rondon, s/n. Jardim Rosa Elze, São Cristóvão, SE, 49100-000, Sergipe, Brazil.
³ Laboratory of Neuroscience and Pharmacological Assays, Department of Physiology, Federal University of Sergipe, Av. Marechal Rondon, s/n. Jardim Rosa Elze, São Cristóvão, SE, 49100-000, Sergipe, Brazil.
⁴ Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health, Federal University of Alagoas, Av. Manoel Severino Barbosa. Bom Sucesso, Arapiraca, AL, 57309-005, Brazil.

Abstract

The decline of social distancing measure in Brazil seems to be associated to the reduction of interest on coronavirus information. Exploring the trends of public interest in searching COVID 19 information on the Internet may be a useful and complementary tool to COVID-19 surveillance and commitment to disease preventive measures.

MeSH terms

Brazil / epidemiology
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / psychology*
Humans
Information Seeking Behavior
Internet Use / statistics & numerical data*
Pandemics
Physical Distancing*
SARS-CoV-2
Social Isolation / psychology*