Google searches for malaria drug that surged with support of Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk

April 29 (UPI)- Google Search for the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine increased by approximately 1,400% after drawing attention to potential benefits in treatment COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection)Analysis Published Wednesday JAMA Internal Medicine The above.

A similar search for chloroquine, another drug that treats malaria, surged by more than 440%, the researchers report.

An analysis of search traffic from the beginning of February to the end of March covered the period from the onset of the disease caused by the new coronavirus in the United States, which infected more than one million Americans by Wednesday. I am.

Two drugs have been advertised by the President as possible cures for COVID-19 Donald Trump And a millionaire businessman Elon Musk In mid-March, despite the lack of evidence to support the claim.

Dr. John W. Ayres, a research co-author and behavioral scientist at San Diego State University, told UPI Tuesday night. University of California Harvard Researcher, Johns Hopkins Oxford University worked on the research.

“It’s like porn Supreme Court 1970s: We don’t know that until we see it, and you still don’t agree with it, “Ayres said. “But with false information during the pandemic, there is a serious risk. The stakes are high. We need to tackle it before we can join the public health problems we already face.”

For research, researchers reviewed daily Google search data from February 1st to March 29th of this year, comparing historical trends. Search terms such as “buy”, “order”, “”Amazon, Confirmed by combining the drug name with “eBay” and “Walmart”.

Musk endorsed chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, drugs that have historically been used to treat autoimmune disorders and malaria, on Twitter on March 16, and Trump first mentioned them at a press conference three days later.

Researchers have found that the “first and biggest” spike in searches to buy drugs directly corresponds to the mask’s tweets, with the next day an additional 100,000 searches are conducted. . On March 20, the day after Trump’s comment, more than 250,000 additional searches were done.

Overall, Google’s search activity for buying chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine increased by 442 percent and 1,389 percent, respectively, the researchers found. They also note that searches for chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine exceeded expectations and remained at 212% and 1,167%, respectively, even after news reports of a deadly addiction in Arizona. did.

Consumers who use the Internet to obtain health information are not new phenomena. Research is often done by people Study their symptoms Online before visiting a medical institution for diagnosis and treatment.

Research published last month PLOS Computational biology Found a 10-fold increase in Wikipedia page views during the 2016 Zika Pandemic, a direct response to media mentions of mosquito-borne viruses.

“Wikipedia is an important source of information in the current pandemic and its editors are doing their best to provide the latest information on COVID-19,” said ISI’s lead author of Zika Research and Research Leaders. Michele Tissoni says. The Foundation in Turin, Italy, told UPI on Wednesday.

“But, as mentioned in Wikipedia itself, Wikipedia and other websites cannot replace the advice of health care professionals,” Tizzoni said.

Tizzoni and her colleagues focused on the role of media, especially television, in shaping public opinion.

During the pandemic, “the dissemination of accurate and reliable information on TV will be even more important,” said the attention and fear of the public “was exposed to online and TV coverage, not size or extent. It can be explained by “the fashion itself. “

The researchers behind JAMA internal medicine research suggest that regulators and companies like Google and Bing need to “proactively mitigate the negative effects” of false information.

They specifically pointed to Google’s integration of educational information into search results related to outbreaks.

They may also draft or withhold warnings about potentially linked products for use in treating COVID-19, as did online retailer eBay when it removed chloroquine products from the site. Advised retailers to.

FDA last Friday Imposed limits After research on new coronavirus chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine formulations showed potential risks associated with their use.

Ayers, a co-author of JAMA internal medicine research, said, “If we can identify the occurrence of false information and know how widespread it is, we can begin to learn how to fix it and stop the spread. I thought I could do it. ” .