PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective
Background: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been used for decades, but only caused allergic reactions exceptionally. Introduction of PEG-containing COVID-19 vaccines might have fostered public interest beyond medical reasoning. Objectives: To investigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the pu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-11-01
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| Series: | World Allergy Organization Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1939455122000904 |
| _version_ | 1797987871797280768 |
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| author | Rebekka K. Bent, MD, BSC Valentina Faihs, MD Linda Tizek, MPH Tilo Biedermann, MD Alexander Zink, MPH, MD, PhD Knut Brockow, MD |
| author_facet | Rebekka K. Bent, MD, BSC Valentina Faihs, MD Linda Tizek, MPH Tilo Biedermann, MD Alexander Zink, MPH, MD, PhD Knut Brockow, MD |
| author_sort | Rebekka K. Bent, MD, BSC |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been used for decades, but only caused allergic reactions exceptionally. Introduction of PEG-containing COVID-19 vaccines might have fostered public interest beyond medical reasoning. Objectives: To investigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the public interest in PEG allergy in Germany and the published PEG allergy cases worldwide. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted to measure public interest in PEG allergy analyzing Google search volume in Germany from February 2018 to January 2022. Medically confirmed “PEG allergy” cases were analyzed by looking at the numbers of PubMed case reports and case series from 1977 until January 2022. Results: Web results in Germany before COVID-19 show search volumes related to “PEG allergy/testing” was negligible, with 10 search queries per month. The pandemic led to a >200-fold increase from 250 queries 2 years before to 55 720 queries 2 years thereafter, reflecting tremendous public interest. Additionally, the maximum monthly search volume from before to during the pandemic increased immensely for “vaccination” (57-fold), “vaccination and adverse effects” (85-fold), “vaccination and allergy” (71-fold). In contrast, the increase of publication numbers for the search term “PEG allergy” was small from 2019 to 2021 (2.5-fold). Only a very low number of 211 cases with “PEG allergy” worldwide since 1977 could be identified. Conclusion: PEG allergy became a topic of major public interest because of COVID-19 vaccination. Scientific publications have increased to a lesser extent, probably promoted by public awareness. Conversely, the overall number of cases published with PEG allergy remain very low. The current high demand for COVID-19 vaccination allergy testing is triggered by public interest instead of medical reasoning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:55:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba19c1401a8a45379056267d6372f2d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1939-4551 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T07:55:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | World Allergy Organization Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba19c1401a8a45379056267d6372f2d22022-12-22T04:35:58ZengElsevierWorld Allergy Organization Journal1939-45512022-11-011511100714PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspectiveRebekka K. Bent, MD, BSC0Valentina Faihs, MD1Linda Tizek, MPH2Tilo Biedermann, MD3Alexander Zink, MPH, MD, PhD4Knut Brockow, MD5Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyDepartment of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyCorresponding author. Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie am Biederstein Technische Universität München, Biedersteiner Str. 29, 80802 München, Germany.; Department of Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, GermanyBackground: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been used for decades, but only caused allergic reactions exceptionally. Introduction of PEG-containing COVID-19 vaccines might have fostered public interest beyond medical reasoning. Objectives: To investigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the public interest in PEG allergy in Germany and the published PEG allergy cases worldwide. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted to measure public interest in PEG allergy analyzing Google search volume in Germany from February 2018 to January 2022. Medically confirmed “PEG allergy” cases were analyzed by looking at the numbers of PubMed case reports and case series from 1977 until January 2022. Results: Web results in Germany before COVID-19 show search volumes related to “PEG allergy/testing” was negligible, with 10 search queries per month. The pandemic led to a >200-fold increase from 250 queries 2 years before to 55 720 queries 2 years thereafter, reflecting tremendous public interest. Additionally, the maximum monthly search volume from before to during the pandemic increased immensely for “vaccination” (57-fold), “vaccination and adverse effects” (85-fold), “vaccination and allergy” (71-fold). In contrast, the increase of publication numbers for the search term “PEG allergy” was small from 2019 to 2021 (2.5-fold). Only a very low number of 211 cases with “PEG allergy” worldwide since 1977 could be identified. Conclusion: PEG allergy became a topic of major public interest because of COVID-19 vaccination. Scientific publications have increased to a lesser extent, probably promoted by public awareness. Conversely, the overall number of cases published with PEG allergy remain very low. The current high demand for COVID-19 vaccination allergy testing is triggered by public interest instead of medical reasoning.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1939455122000904Polyethylene glycolPEGCOVID-19 pandemicPublic interestGermany |
| spellingShingle | Rebekka K. Bent, MD, BSC Valentina Faihs, MD Linda Tizek, MPH Tilo Biedermann, MD Alexander Zink, MPH, MD, PhD Knut Brockow, MD PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective World Allergy Organization Journal Polyethylene glycol PEG COVID-19 pandemic Public interest Germany |
| title | PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective |
| title_full | PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective |
| title_fullStr | PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective |
| title_short | PEG allergy — A COVID-19 pandemic-made problem? A German perspective |
| title_sort | peg allergy a covid 19 pandemic made problem a german perspective |
| topic | Polyethylene glycol PEG COVID-19 pandemic Public interest Germany |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1939455122000904 |
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