How often people google for vaccination: Qualitative and quantitative insights from a systematic search of the web-based activities using Google Trends

Nowadays, more and more people surf the Internet seeking health-related information. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can represent an important opportunities in the field of Public Health and vaccinology. The aim of our current research was to investigate a) how often people search the Internet for vaccination-related information, b) if this search is spontaneous or induced by media, and c) which kind of information is in particular searched. We used Google Trends (GT) for monitoring the interest for preventable infections and related vaccines. When looking for vaccine preventable infectious diseases, vaccine was not a popular topic, with some valuable exceptions, including the vaccine against Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Vaccines-related queries represented approximately one third of the volumes regarding preventable infections, greatly differing among the vaccines. However, the interest for vaccines is increasing throughout time: in particular, users seek information about possible vaccine-related side-effects. The five most searched vaccines are those against 1) influenza; 2) meningitis; 3) diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus; 4) yellow fever; and 5) chickenpox. ICTs can have a positive influence on parental vaccine-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and vaccination willingness. GT can be used for monitoring the interest for vaccinations and the main information searched.