Impact of the Coronavirus Disease on Micronutrient Search Trends and Interest in Global Population: A Worldwide Google Trend Analysis

Namrata Hange,Molly Sanjay Jain,Alaa Hassan Yousif Hamdan,Bernard Emuze,Sai Harsha Bobba,Atul Wadagale,Manoj Reddy Somagutta,Erkan Batti

doi:10.29333/ejgm/11877

Abstract

Background: Globally, micronutrient use has increased over the last few decades for disease prevention and holistic health. This article has analyzed the worldwide search trends of micronutrients in the Google Trends (GT) platform to understand the significance and correlation of search trends, comparing the search interests across countries and recognizing the factors involved. Methods: Specific search terms were used to identify the search trends of micronutrients in the GT platform. Statistical analysis was done to evaluate the outcomes of significance and correlation of search terms from 2004 to 2021 by using statistical softwares. Results: There was a rise in searches for micronutrients vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, & iron from 2004 to June 2021 with a steep increase during 2020 correlating with the COVID-19 pandemic. A stable search has been reported in iron searches. Significance and correlation of vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, & iron over the years and search interest popularity score of countries for micronutrient searches have been described. Conclusions: The GT tool can be a necessary tool for healthcare communities and government sectors to understand people’s interests, necessities and respond to their concerns accordingly, thus helping us promote population-centric awareness and achieve better evidence-based outcomes.

Highlights

Nowadays, there is growing attention to the role of the micronutrients in disease prevention, optimizing and maintaining health for holistic health [1,2]
Micronutrients deficiencies impair the immune system in battling viral infections and contribute to more virulent strains via genetic alterations of the viral genome [1,4]
Looking at searches for micronutrients over 2004 to June 2021, there was a rise in VitD, Vitamin C (Vit-C), and Zinc since 2004, a peculiar surge in searches noted over 2020 as presented in the Figure 1

Summary

Introduction

There is growing attention to the role of the micronutrients in disease prevention, optimizing and maintaining health for holistic health [1,2]. Vitamin D (Vit-D) is a known anti-inflammatory, immune booster and antiviral agent that safeguard respiratory health from bacteria and viruses [1,6,7]. It mainly inhibits pulmonary inflammatory responses, enhancing innate defence mechanisms against respiratory pathogens [8-10]. Zinc is recognized to promote antiviral and antibacterial immunity and regulate the inflammatory response [12] It may reduce the viral replication rate by inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase or increasing the synthesis of the anti-oxidative enzyme superoxide dismutase, promoting immune functions and helping people resist infectious diseases [12,13]. A significant reduction in morbidity due to upper respiratory tract infections has been associated with iron supplementation [2,9] These deficiencies are preventable through nutrition education and consumption of a healthy diet containing diverse foods and food fortification and supplementation, where needed [1-4,7]. This article has analyzed the worldwide search trends of micronutrients in the Google Trends (GT) platform to understand the significance and correlation of search trends, comparing the search interests across countries and recognizing the factors involved

Results

Discussion

Conclusion