ArticleInfluenza and other respiratory viruses2019
Healthcare professionals' queries on oseltamivir and influenza in Finland 2011-2016-Can we detect influenza epidemics with specific online searches?
Article in Influenza and other respiratory viruses, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Detecting epinephrine auto-injector shortages in Finland 2016-2022: Log-data analysis of online information seeking.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Analyzing Citizens' and Health Care Professionals' Searches for Smell/Taste Disorders and Coronavirus in Finland During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infodemiological Approach Using Database Logs.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2021Article
- Healthcare professionals' queries on oseltamivir and influenza in Finland 2011-2016-Can we detect influenza epidemics with specific online searches?Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2019Article
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7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundHealthcare professionals (HCPs) search medical information during their clinical work using Internet sources. In Finland, Physician's Databases (PD) serve as an Internet medical portal aimed at HCPs. Influenza epidemics appear seasonal outbreaks causing public health concern. Oseltamivir can be used to treat influenza. Little is known about HCPs' queries on oseltamivir and influenza from dedicated online medical portals and whether queries could be used as an additional source of information for disease surveillance when detecting influenza epidemics.
methodsWe compared HCPs' queries on oseltamivir and influenza from PD to influenza diagnoses from the primary healthcare register in Finland 2011-2016. The Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) calculated the starts of influenza epidemics. Laboratory reports of influenza A and influenza B were assessed. Paired differences compared queries, diagnoses, and laboratory reports by using starting weeks. Kendall's correlation test assessed the season-to-season similarity.
resultsWe found that PD and the primary healthcare register showed visually similar patterns annually. Paired differences in the mean showed that influenza epidemics based on queries on oseltamivir started earlier than epidemics based on diagnoses by -0.80 weeks (95% CI: -1.0, 0.0) with high correlation (τ = 0.943). Queries on influenza preceded queries on oseltamivir by -0.80 weeks (95% CI: -1.2, 0.0) and diagnoses by -1.60 weeks (95% CI: -1.8, -1.0).
conclusionsHCPs' queries on oseltamivir and influenza from Internet medical databases correlated with register diagnoses of influenza. Therefore, they should be considered as a supplementary source of information for disease surveillance when detecting influenza epidemics.
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