Objectives
The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced people’s concerns regarding infectious diseases and their preventive measures. However, the magnitude of the impact and the difference between countries are unclear. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 on public interest and people’s behaviours globally in preventing infectious diseases while comparing international trends and sustainability.
Design
An infodemiology and infoveillance study.
Setting
The study employed a web-based data collection to delineate public interest regarding COVID-19 preventive measures using Google Trends.
Primary and secondary outcome measures
A relative search volume was assigned to a keyword, standardising it from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest share of the term searches. The search terms “coronavirus”, “wash hand”, “social distancing”, “hand sanitizer” and “mask” were investigated across 196 different countries and regions from July 2018 to October 2021 and weekly reports of the relative search volume were obtained. Persistence of interest was assessed by comparing the first 20 weeks with the last 20 weeks of the study period.
Results
Although the relative search volume of “coronavirus” increased and was sustained at a significantly higher level (p