Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the increasing popularity of several emerging therapies or preventives that lack scientific evidence or go against medical directives. One such therapy involves the consumption of chlorine dioxide, which is commonly used in the cle...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | JMIR Infodemiology |
| Online Access: | https://infodemiology.jmir.org/2022/1/e29894 |
| _version_ | 1797735380623032320 |
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| author | Jonathan Matias Chejfec-Ciociano Juan Pablo Martínez-Herrera Alexa Darianna Parra-Guerra Ricardo Chejfec Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho Juan Carlos Ibarrola-Peña Gabino Cervantes-Guevara Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco Enrique Cervantes-Pérez Benjamín García-Reyna Alejandro González-Ojeda |
| author_facet | Jonathan Matias Chejfec-Ciociano Juan Pablo Martínez-Herrera Alexa Darianna Parra-Guerra Ricardo Chejfec Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho Juan Carlos Ibarrola-Peña Gabino Cervantes-Guevara Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco Enrique Cervantes-Pérez Benjamín García-Reyna Alejandro González-Ojeda |
| author_sort | Jonathan Matias Chejfec-Ciociano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the increasing popularity of several emerging therapies or preventives that lack scientific evidence or go against medical directives. One such therapy involves the consumption of chlorine dioxide, which is commonly used in the cleaning industry and is available commercially as a mineral solution. This substance has been promoted as a preventive or treatment agent for several diseases, including SARS-CoV-2 infection. As interest in chlorine dioxide has grown since the start of the pandemic, health agencies, institutions, and organizations worldwide have tried to discourage and restrict the consumption of this substance.
ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to analyze search engine trends in Mexico to evaluate changes in public interest in chlorine dioxide since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MethodsWe retrieved public query data for the Spanish equivalent of the term “chlorine dioxide” from the Google Trends platform. The location was set to Mexico, and the time frame was from March 3, 2019, to February 21, 2021. A descriptive analysis was performed. The Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests were used to identify significant changes in search volumes for this term between four consecutive time periods, each of 13 weeks, from March 1, 2020, to February 27, 2021.
ResultsFrom the start of the pandemic in Mexico (February 2020), an upward trend was observed in the number of searches compared with that in 2019. Maximum volume trends were recorded during the week of July 19-25, 2020. The search volumes declined between September and November 2020, but another peak was registered in December 2020 through February 2021, which reached a maximum value on January 10. Percentage change from the first to the fourth time periods was +312.85, –71.35, and +228.18, respectively. Pairwise comparisons using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests showed significant differences between the four periods (P<.001).
ConclusionsMisinformation is a public health risk because it can lower compliance with the recommended measures and encourage the use of therapies that have not been proven safe. The ingestion of chlorine dioxide presents a danger to the population, and several adverse reactions have been reported. Programs should be implemented to direct those interested in this substance to accurate medical information. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:57:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20ac458e741f400ebb28dc42d055be47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2564-1891 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:57:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Infodemiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-20ac458e741f400ebb28dc42d055be472023-08-28T20:27:11ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Infodemiology2564-18912022-01-0121e2989410.2196/29894Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology StudyJonathan Matias Chejfec-Ciocianohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0205-6844Juan Pablo Martínez-Herrerahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2243-9391Alexa Darianna Parra-Guerrahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5833-9849Ricardo Chejfechttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9477-1943Francisco José Barbosa-Camachohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3897-2767Juan Carlos Ibarrola-Peñahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4271-7512Gabino Cervantes-Guevarahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6249-4737Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardonahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0180-6201Clotilde Fuentes-Orozcohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6230-8359Enrique Cervantes-Pérezhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6333-9082Benjamín García-Reynahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8649-9831Alejandro González-Ojedahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2935-8703 BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the increasing popularity of several emerging therapies or preventives that lack scientific evidence or go against medical directives. One such therapy involves the consumption of chlorine dioxide, which is commonly used in the cleaning industry and is available commercially as a mineral solution. This substance has been promoted as a preventive or treatment agent for several diseases, including SARS-CoV-2 infection. As interest in chlorine dioxide has grown since the start of the pandemic, health agencies, institutions, and organizations worldwide have tried to discourage and restrict the consumption of this substance. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to analyze search engine trends in Mexico to evaluate changes in public interest in chlorine dioxide since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsWe retrieved public query data for the Spanish equivalent of the term “chlorine dioxide” from the Google Trends platform. The location was set to Mexico, and the time frame was from March 3, 2019, to February 21, 2021. A descriptive analysis was performed. The Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests were used to identify significant changes in search volumes for this term between four consecutive time periods, each of 13 weeks, from March 1, 2020, to February 27, 2021. ResultsFrom the start of the pandemic in Mexico (February 2020), an upward trend was observed in the number of searches compared with that in 2019. Maximum volume trends were recorded during the week of July 19-25, 2020. The search volumes declined between September and November 2020, but another peak was registered in December 2020 through February 2021, which reached a maximum value on January 10. Percentage change from the first to the fourth time periods was +312.85, –71.35, and +228.18, respectively. Pairwise comparisons using the Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests showed significant differences between the four periods (P<.001). ConclusionsMisinformation is a public health risk because it can lower compliance with the recommended measures and encourage the use of therapies that have not been proven safe. The ingestion of chlorine dioxide presents a danger to the population, and several adverse reactions have been reported. Programs should be implemented to direct those interested in this substance to accurate medical information.https://infodemiology.jmir.org/2022/1/e29894 |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan Matias Chejfec-Ciociano Juan Pablo Martínez-Herrera Alexa Darianna Parra-Guerra Ricardo Chejfec Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho Juan Carlos Ibarrola-Peña Gabino Cervantes-Guevara Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco Enrique Cervantes-Pérez Benjamín García-Reyna Alejandro González-Ojeda Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study JMIR Infodemiology |
| title | Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study |
| title_full | Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study |
| title_fullStr | Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study |
| title_short | Misinformation About and Interest in Chlorine Dioxide During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico Identified Using Google Trends Data: Infodemiology Study |
| title_sort | misinformation about and interest in chlorine dioxide during the covid 19 pandemic in mexico identified using google trends data infodemiology study |
| url | https://infodemiology.jmir.org/2022/1/e29894 |
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