Content analysis of malaria-related health information published in online travel blogs

IF 4.7 3区医学 Q1 INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease Pub Date : 2025-07-30 DOI:10.1016/j.tmaid.2025.102879

Shayan Din , Ramy Bishay , Usama Asad , Gerard T. Flaherty

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

It is not known whether travellers consult travel blogs for malaria preventive advice. This study aimed to characterise information about travellers’ malaria across a sample of online travel blogs.

Methods

A search of online travel blogs was conducted using the Google search engine for reference to malaria. Blogs were analysed across 35 variables and usage statistics were recorded.

Results

Of 100 blogs retrieved, 92 contained malaria-related information. Ten different drugs were mentioned in this series, five of which were not appropriate for prevention of falciparum malaria. Pre-travel consultation was recommended by almost a third of blogs. Most blogs were supported by commercial sponsors, related to either the travel industry or travel health products.

Conclusion

Given the inconsistency of the malaria preventive advice provided, there is scope for the travel medicine community to produce reliable material suitable for the lay traveller to be shared with prominent bloggers.

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在线旅游博客发布的疟疾相关健康信息内容分析

导言：目前尚不清楚旅行者是否会向旅游博客咨询疟疾预防建议。这项研究旨在通过一个在线旅游博客样本来描述旅行者疟疾的特征信息。方法：利用谷歌搜索引擎对在线旅游博客进行疟疾相关内容搜索。博客通过35个变量进行分析，并记录使用统计数据。结果：在检索到的100个博客中，有92个包含与疟疾相关的信息。本系列中提到了10种不同的药物，其中5种不适合预防恶性疟疾。近三分之一的博客推荐旅行前咨询。大多数博客都有商业赞助者的支持，这些赞助者要么与旅游业有关，要么与旅行保健产品有关。结论：鉴于所提供的疟疾预防建议的不一致性，旅行医学界有空间制作适合外行旅行者的可靠材料，并与知名博客分享。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-INFECTIOUS DISEASES

CiteScore

19.40

自引率

1.70%

发文量

211

审稿时长

49 days

期刊介绍： Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease Publication Scope: Publishes original papers, reviews, and consensus papers Primary theme: infectious disease in the context of travel medicine Focus Areas: Epidemiology and surveillance of travel-related illness Prevention and treatment of travel-associated infections Malaria prevention and treatment Travellers' diarrhoea Infections associated with mass gatherings Migration-related infections Vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease Global policy/regulations for disease prevention and control Practical clinical issues for travel and tropical medicine practitioners Coverage: Addresses areas of controversy and debate in travel medicine Aims to inform guidelines and policy pertinent to travel medicine and the prevention of infectious disease Publication Features: Offers a fast peer-review process Provides early online publication of accepted manuscripts Aims to publish cutting-edge papers