Contents and quality of travel tips on malaria in English and Spanish travel blogs.
Por:
Linares-Rufo M, Santos-Larrégola L, Hernández-de-Mora MG and Ramos-Rincón JM
Publicada:
16 ago 2021
Ahead of Print:
16 ago 2021
Resumen:
BACKGROUND: Europe has about 10,000 imported cases of malaria each year, or around 80 cases per 100,000 trips to endemic areas. Non-use of chemoprophylaxis in travellers remains the main reason for this. The proliferation of online travel blogs as a source of advice (sometimes the only one used) for preparing a trip to an endemic area may play a role in the decision to use chemoprophylaxis. The aim of this study was to analyse the information offered on malaria in the main travel blogs in English and Spanish. METHODS: Five hundred travel blogs in English and 100 in Spanish, considered highly relevant were analysed. The relevance were according to different metrics: (1) Alexa Rank; (2) social networks (RRSS) measuring the total followers of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; (3) number of monthly visits using the SEMrush tool; (4) domain authority; and (5) number of backlinks or incoming links using the SEMrush tool. RESULTS: Of the included travel blogs, 57% of those in English and 64% of those in Spanish offered information on malaria, and 79 and 75%, respectively, featured a discussion on malaria written as a blog post or in forum comments. Information on chemoprophylaxis was available in 56.1% of English-language blogs and 10.7% of Spanish-speaking blogs, while its side effects were discussed in 38.6 and 68.8%, respectively (p < 0.001). Content analysis revealed that the information was usually insufficient, incomplete or, more seriously, inaccurate. In many cases, this could discourage users from taking appropriate preventive measures. CONCLUSIONS: Travel blogs in English and Spanish provide low-quality information on malaria. The so-called "travel influencers" must communicate reliable, verified and quality information on malaria on their channels in a way that could contribute to reducing the burden of the disease in travellers.
Filiaciones:
Linares-Rufo M:
Microbiology Service, Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
Foundation iO, Madrid, Spain
Santos-Larrégola L:
Foundation iO, Madrid, Spain
Buenos Aires Health Centre, Madrid, Spain
Hernández-de-Mora MG:
Department of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
:
Department of Medicine, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Alicante, Spain.
Open Access
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