Mapping of electronic searches for the most popular drugs in the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Authors

Abstract

The study aimed to map electronic searches for most popular drugs in the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. This is an exploratory, retrospective and mixed study. The data were collected in July 2020 through Google Trends®, filtered from the last 90 days of research, wich were related to drugs, ivermectin, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, dexamethasone and azithromycin. To identify the most visited newscasts, Google News® was used. The Brazilian population conducted electronic searches among the five investigated drugs, but chloroquine and ivermectin predominated. Furthermore, as the disease evolved in Brazilian states, the influence of scientific and government research in the search for these drugs was noticeable. It is noteworthy that it is essential for the management of the pandemic that communication strategies be drawn up, based on social responsibility and the perspective of popular empowerment, with a focus on the identification of false news and the conscious use of information acquired virtually.

Key words: Pandemics; coronavirus infections; information search behavior; drug utilization.

Author Biographies

Vagner Ferreira do Nascimento, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brasil

Enfermeiro. Doutor em Bioética. Docente Adjunto da Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT).

Thalise Yuri Hattori, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brasil

Enfermeira. Mestre em Ciências da Saúde. Docente Assistente da Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT). Campus Universitário de Tangará da Serra.

Ana Cláudia Pereira Terças-Trettel, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Brasil

Enfermeira. Doutora em Medicina Tropical. Docente Adjunta da Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT). Docente Permanente do Programa de Pós Graduação em Saúde Coletiva - Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá.

Mirian Barreto Lellis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT), Brasil

Jornalista. Doutoranda em Estudos de Cultura Contemporânea. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá.

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Published

2021-06-01

How to Cite

1.
Ferreira do Nascimento V, Hattori TY, Pereira Terças-Trettel AC, Barreto Lellis M. Mapping of electronic searches for the most popular drugs in the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [Internet]. 2021 Jun. 1 [cited 2025 Feb. 7];32(3). Available from: https://acimed.sld.cu/index.php/acimed/article/view/1697

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 3 (2021): julio-septiembre

Section

Sección temática: Ciencias de la información y COVID-19

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