Public awareness for “classic” childhood diseases and inflammatory syndromes in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ObjectivesThe objective was to analyze in silico public search interest during the COVID-19 pandemic for some classic infectious childhood diseases, e.g., measles, mumps, chickenpox, scarlet fever, and inflammatory diseases like Kawasaki disease and the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS). Study designIn this study, a comparison of five childhood diseases in public search trends with the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome was performed. MethodsGoogle Trends data for the period of five years for six childhood diseases were used. We used topics coverings all languages worldwide and all connected search queries. ResultsPublic search interest decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic for some classic infectious childhood diseases. Search interest for the pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, despite strong indication of a connection with COVID-19, remained relatively low compared to Kawasaki disease. Practice implicationsBetter understanding of Google Trends can map public awareness of childhood diseases in terms of time course and search intensity. ConclusionsPublic interest during the pandemic was generated for diseases with suspected connection to COVID-19, presumably due to media triggers.