Assessing Google Correlate Queries for Influenza H1N1 Surveillance in Asian Developing Countries

TL;DR

This study evaluates the effectiveness of Google Trends data for influenza H1N1 surveillance in four Asian developing countries, addressing a gap in low-cost epidemic monitoring methods in these regions.

Contribution

It provides the first analysis of Google query data for influenza surveillance specifically in Asian developing countries.

Findings

Significant correlation between search trends and influenza activity

Demonstrates potential of Google Trends as a surveillance tool in Asia

Highlights regional differences in search behavior

Abstract

So far, Google Trend data have been used for influenza surveillance in many European and American countries; however, there are few attempts to apply the low-cost surveillance method in Asian developing countries. To investigate the correlation between the search trends and the influenza activity in Asia, we examined the Google query data of four Asian developing countries.