Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
Developing countries, particularly Nigeria, continually find it challenging to proactively and actively carry out early-stage surveillance for disease outbreaks due to the lack of quality workforce, a dearth of public health data, and the absence of automated surveillance systems in the country. Thi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2021-06-01
|
| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021012871 |
| _version_ | 1818740957781164032 |
|---|---|
| author | Tunde Adebisi Ayooluwa Aregbesola Festus Asamu Ogadimma Arisukwu Eyitayo Oyeyipo |
| author_facet | Tunde Adebisi Ayooluwa Aregbesola Festus Asamu Ogadimma Arisukwu Eyitayo Oyeyipo |
| author_sort | Tunde Adebisi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Developing countries, particularly Nigeria, continually find it challenging to proactively and actively carry out early-stage surveillance for disease outbreaks due to the lack of quality workforce, a dearth of public health data, and the absence of automated surveillance systems in the country. This study presents the potential and ability of Twitter in tracking early detection of COVID-19, monitoring the dissemination of information, and exploration of public awareness and attitudes among Nigerians. Tweets mentioning COVID-19 and related keywords were collected in 11 batches via the NCapture™ plugin available on Google Chrome from February 20 - May 6, 2020. The analysis includes a time series analysis to track the distribution of data and content analysis to analyze the knowledge and attitudes of Nigerians. A total of 67,989 tweets (1,484 unique and 66,505 retweets) citing COVID-19 and related keywords were returned. The Tweets started to emerge earlier to the first confirmed case in Nigeria while maintaining a dangling-upward movement up to the 11th week under study. Matters arising from the tweets include a dearth of information on COVID-19 and optimism among others. The results provide insight into the intersection of SNSs and public health surveillance. Results show how helpful Twitter is to educate education in public health. Health organizations and the government may benefit from paying attention to both amusing and emotional contents from the Twitter community to formulate a viable policy for treatment and control. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T01:48:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5dfb6bcf1c92455fa0714c5f7197a5b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T01:48:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-5dfb6bcf1c92455fa0714c5f7197a5b42022-12-21T21:25:05ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402021-06-0176e07184Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in NigeriaTunde Adebisi0Ayooluwa Aregbesola1Festus Asamu2Ogadimma Arisukwu3Eyitayo Oyeyipo4SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG 10, Reduced Inequality, Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, Nigeria; SDG 10, Reduced Inequality, Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, Nigeria; Corresponding author.SDG 4, Quality Education, Centre for Learning Resources, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, NigeriaSDG 10, Reduced Inequality, Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, NigeriaSDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, SDG 10, Reduced Inequality, Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, NigeriaSDG 10, Reduced Inequality, Department of Sociology, Landmark University, Omu-Aran Kwara, NigeriaDeveloping countries, particularly Nigeria, continually find it challenging to proactively and actively carry out early-stage surveillance for disease outbreaks due to the lack of quality workforce, a dearth of public health data, and the absence of automated surveillance systems in the country. This study presents the potential and ability of Twitter in tracking early detection of COVID-19, monitoring the dissemination of information, and exploration of public awareness and attitudes among Nigerians. Tweets mentioning COVID-19 and related keywords were collected in 11 batches via the NCapture™ plugin available on Google Chrome from February 20 - May 6, 2020. The analysis includes a time series analysis to track the distribution of data and content analysis to analyze the knowledge and attitudes of Nigerians. A total of 67,989 tweets (1,484 unique and 66,505 retweets) citing COVID-19 and related keywords were returned. The Tweets started to emerge earlier to the first confirmed case in Nigeria while maintaining a dangling-upward movement up to the 11th week under study. Matters arising from the tweets include a dearth of information on COVID-19 and optimism among others. The results provide insight into the intersection of SNSs and public health surveillance. Results show how helpful Twitter is to educate education in public health. Health organizations and the government may benefit from paying attention to both amusing and emotional contents from the Twitter community to formulate a viable policy for treatment and control.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021012871Public health surveillanceCOVID-19TwitterNigeriaQualitative research |
| spellingShingle | Tunde Adebisi Ayooluwa Aregbesola Festus Asamu Ogadimma Arisukwu Eyitayo Oyeyipo Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria Heliyon Public health surveillance COVID-19 Nigeria Qualitative research |
| title | Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria |
| title_full | Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria |
| title_short | Using SNSs for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria |
| title_sort | using snss for early detection of disease outbreak in developing countries evidence from covid 19 pandemic in nigeria |
| topic | Public health surveillance COVID-19 Nigeria Qualitative research |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021012871 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tundeadebisi usingsnssforearlydetectionofdiseaseoutbreakindevelopingcountriesevidencefromcovid19pandemicinnigeria AT ayooluwaaregbesola usingsnssforearlydetectionofdiseaseoutbreakindevelopingcountriesevidencefromcovid19pandemicinnigeria AT festusasamu usingsnssforearlydetectionofdiseaseoutbreakindevelopingcountriesevidencefromcovid19pandemicinnigeria AT ogadimmaarisukwu usingsnssforearlydetectionofdiseaseoutbreakindevelopingcountriesevidencefromcovid19pandemicinnigeria AT eyitayooyeyipo usingsnssforearlydetectionofdiseaseoutbreakindevelopingcountriesevidencefromcovid19pandemicinnigeria |