Study shows a positive change in health-seeking behavior as a reaction to the pandemic
This past year has been one filled with fear and anxiety over uncertainties and unprecedented events. It can be hard, near impossible, to find something positive to hold on to, to build our hope on as we adapt to the new world. So when three Filipino medical students talk of the “silver lining of Covid-19” it may be read by many, myself included, with some suspect.
Published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Vaccine, three Filipino medical students studied and wrote the article “Silver lining of Covid-19,” about the heightened global interest in vaccines and change in health-seeking behavior as a reaction to the Covid-19 health crisis. Specifically, they found that there was a peculiar increase in interest for the flu and pneumonia vaccines in March 2020. They hope that this will translate to higher vaccination rates through the coming months and years.
Joseph Paguio and Seth Yao are both recent graduates of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM). Meanwhile, their co-author Chris Dee is a Filipino student taking up medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“We used Google Trends data–which allows tracking of online interest in terms of time and geography–to ask whether or not the global interest in vaccines for non-Covid-19 conditions changed with the rise of the pandemic,” says Chris on the study and article published at the end of June. “In other words: Did people become more aware of vaccinations in the setting of a viral pandemic?”
Chris confesses that, like many studying medicine or in the medical profession, they all wished they could be working on clinical trials for a vaccine but they “don’t have the guns” to look for cures or evaluate known drugs. So they turned their attention to infodemiology, a new area of scientific research focused on the distribution of health-related information online.
“The researchers I admire the most, whether in laboratory science or clinical research, are extremely creative. They identify questions that no one has thought of before, and approach these questions in ways that are novel,” said Chris. “Strong parallels can be drawn with artists who’ve redefined how we paint, write, and make music.”
The same way art, literature, and music have often changed and grown as a reaction to volatile periods in history, researchers in medicine and science ask new questions and approach them in novel ways. While most of the world is rushing to find a vaccine or cure, as they should, it is worth asking what we can learn from these experiences and how we can apply them to better our lives.
“Our findings suggest the value of leveraging Internet data to study such a far-reaching pandemic,” added Chris. “It is our hope that the evidence we present for increased interest in pulmonary infections may galvanize health-seeking behavior, and translate into increased rates of vaccinations.”
Perhaps a “silver lining” that we can take from the global health crisis is that people are taking the time to search for health-related information, including vaccinations. There is potential for people to come out of this pandemic as more health-conscious people, leading to a generally healthier population, happier too, with hope.