Correlation between reported human infection with avian influenza A H7N9 virus and cyber user awareness: what can we learn from digital epidemiology?
- Xie, Tiansheng
- Yang, Zongxing
- Yang, Shigui
- Wu, Nanping
- Li, Lanjuan
Publication date
May 2014
DOI Publisher
The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Abstract
SummaryData on the topic of novel avian influenza A (H7N9) were collected based on the web analysis tool ‘Baidu Index’, a major Chinese search engine. We found a positive correlation between the volume of H7N9-related ‘cyber user awareness’ and the epidemic situation during the H7N9 outbreak in China (r=0.98, p<0.01, cumulative; r=0.43, p=0.018, daily) except in the early stage; the ranks of H7N9-related topics changed at different epidemic stages. This study may improve our understanding of the role of web-based media in infectious disease surveillance in China
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