Correlation between cases of chickenpox and Google searches in Peru

Arroyo-Hernández H.; Clavo M.A.; Vicuña-Roca A. · Revista Chilena de Infectologia (2022) · DOI: 10.4067/s0716-10182022000400493

Resumen

In order to determine if there is a correlation between chickenpox cases reported in Peru and the chickenpox searches carried out on Goo-gle at national level and by regions, Spearman’s correlation analyzes were carried out for the epidemiological weeks from 2016 to 2019, as well as before and after the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine in Peru. At the national level, a high correlation was found before the start of vaccination (Rho 0.778, p = 0.001) and moderate during the vaccination period (Rho 0.441, p = 0.001), some regions had a low or very low correlation and stopped to be statistically significant after the introduction of the vaccine in Peru. In addition, the change in the seasonality of chickenpox during the vaccination period also had an impact on the searches carried out by the population on Google.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga