Amplification of perceived risk among users of a national travel health Web site during the 2013-2016 West African Ebola virus outbreak

Jakob Petersen; Hilary Simons; Dipti Patel

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2017.11.012

Amplification of perceived risk among users of a national travel health Web site during the 2013-2016 West African Ebola virus outbreak

Am J Infect Control. 2018 Jul;46(7):843-845. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.11.012. Epub 2018 Jan 2.

Authors

Jakob Petersen¹, Hilary Simons², Dipti Patel³

Affiliations

¹ National Travel Health Network and Centre, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Electronic address: Jakob.petersen@uclh.nhs.uk.
² National Travel Health Network and Centre, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
³ National Travel Health Network and Centre, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

PMID: 29305277
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.11.012

Abstract

Timely outbreak information was paramount to public health bodies issuing travel advisories during the 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. This article explores the potential for a syndromic system/Shewhart control chart based on the online interaction with a national travel health Web site in comparison with searches on the Google UK search engine. The study showed an amplification of perceived risk among users of a national travel health Web site months before the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and the initial surge in public interest on Google UK in August 2014.

Keywords: Infections; epidemiology; health services; prevention; surveillance.

MeSH terms

Africa, Western / epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks*
Ebolavirus / physiology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / virology
Humans
Internet
Public Health
Risk
Travel
World Health Organization