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Google Trends (GT) is a useful real-time surveillance tool for epidemic outbreaks such as monkeypox (Mpox). GT provides hour-by-hour (real-time) data for the last seven days of Google searches. Non-real-time data are a random sample that encompasses search trends from 2004 and up to 72 h. Google Health Trends (GHT) API extracts daily raw search probabilities relative to the time period and size of the underlying population. However, little is known about the utility of GT real-time surveillance and GHT API following the public health announcements. Thus, this study aimed to analyzed Mpox GT real-time, non-real-time, and GHT API data 72 h before and after the WHO declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in the top five Mpox-affected countries. Joinpoint regression was used to measure hourly percentage changes (HPC) in search volume. The WHO PHEIC statement on Mpox generated 18,225.6 per 10 million Google searches in the U.S. and Germany (946.8), and in 0–4 h, the HPC increased by an average of 103% (95% CI: 37.4–200.0). This study showed the benefits of real-time surveillance and the GHT API for monitoring online demand for information on emerging infectious diseases such as Mpox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: In recent years, there has been an increase in skin cancer. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the representation of skin cancer in public awareness worldwide and in Germany, and to determine whether Skin Cancer Awareness Month is represented in the search interests of the Internet-using population in the same way as Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide., Data and Methods: In this study, Google Trends data were used to track levels of public awareness for different tumor entities and skin cancer types worldwide and for Germany., Results: The results of this analysis clearly showed a high level of relative public search interest in breast cancer worldwide in the awareness month of October. Worldwide and in Germany, there was a certain increase in search interest and a certain seasonal effect around the May awareness month for skin cancer. For example, the analysis showed a search interest in May and during the summer months in Germany., Conclusions: It is likely that the population, for example in Germany, may benefit further from an even greater emphasis on the topic of skin cancer., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH on behalf of Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft.)

Background: In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the German government and the 16 German federal states implemented a variety of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to decelerate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and thus prevent a collapse of the health care system. These measures comprised, among others, social distancing, the temporary closure of shops and schools, and a ban of large public gatherings and meetings with people not living in the same household.Objective: It is fair to assume that the issued NPIs have heavily affected social life and psychological functioning. We therefore aimed to examine possible effects of this lockdown in conjunction with daily new infections and the state of the national economy on people's interests, motives, and other psychological states.Methods: We derived 249 keywords from the Google Trends database, tapping into 27 empirically and rationally selected psychological domains. To overcome issues with reliability and specificity of individual indicator variables, broad factors were derived by means of time series factor analysis. All domains were subjected to a change point analysis and time series regression analysis with infection rates, NPIs, and the state of the economy as predictors. All keywords and analyses were preregistered prior to analysis.Results: With the pandemic arriving in Germany, significant increases in people's search interests were observed in virtually all domains. Although most of the changes were short-lasting, each had a distinguishable onset during the lockdown period. Regression analysis of the Google Trends data confirmed pronounced autoregressive effects for the investigated variables, while forecasting by means of the tested predictors (ie, daily new infections, NPIs, and the state of economy) was moderate at best.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that people's interests, motives, and psychological states are heavily affected in times of crisis and lockdown. Specifically, disease- and virus-related domains (eg, pandemic disease, symptoms) peaked early, whereas personal health strategies (eg, masks, homeschooling) peaked later during the lockdown. Domains addressing social life and psychosocial functioning showed long-term increases in public interest. Renovation was the only domain to show a decrease in search interest with the onset of the lockdown. As changes in search behavior are consistent over multiple domains, a Google Trends analysis may provide information for policy makers on how to adapt and develop intervention, information, and prevention strategies, especially when NPIs are in effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Borreliosis is the most frequently transmitted tick-borne disease in Europe. It is difficult to estimate the incidence of tick bites and associated diseases in the German population due to the lack of an obligation to register across all 16 federal states of Germany.Objective: The aim of this study is to show that Google data can be used to generate general trends of infectious diseases on the basis of borreliosis and tick bites. In addition, the possibility of using Google AdWord data to estimate incidences of infectious diseases, where there is inconsistency in the obligation to notify authorities, is investigated with the perspective to facilitate public health studies.Methods: Google AdWords Keyword Planner was used to identify search terms related to ticks and borreliosis in Germany from January 2015 to December 2018. The search volume data from the identified search terms was assessed using Excel version 15.23. In addition, SPSS version 24.0 was used to calculate the correlation between search volumes, registered cases, and temperature.Results: A total of 1999 tick-related and 542 borreliosis-related search terms were identified, with a total of 209,679,640 Google searches in all 16 German federal states in the period under review. The analysis showed a high correlation between temperature and borreliosis (r=0.88), and temperature and tick bite (r=0.83), and a very high correlation between borreliosis and tick bite (r=0.94). Furthermore, a high to very high correlation between Google searches and registered cases in each federal state was observed (Brandenburg r=0.80, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania r= 0.77, Saxony r= 0.74, and Saxony-Anhalt r=0.90; all P<.001).Conclusions: Our study provides insight into annual trends concerning interest in ticks and borreliosis that are relevant to the German population exemplary in the data of a large internet search engine. Public health studies collecting incidence data may benefit from the results indicating a significant correlation between internet search data and incidences of infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]