tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth
. 2020 Sep 13.
doi: 10.2196/19589. Online ahead of print.
Using WeChat, a Chinese social media, to early detect the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019: a retrospective study
Wenjun Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yikai Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xin Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiaoli Jia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yaping Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shuangsuo Dang[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: A novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has started a global pandemic of pneumonia since December 2019, when first cases were reported in Wuhan, China. It has caused 2.7 million confirmed cases and nearly 200,000 deaths as of April 24, 2020. Early warning systems with new technologies should be established to avoid such disasters.
Objective: This study aimed to explore the possibility of early detecting the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019 using social media.
Methods: WeChat Index is a data service that shows how frequent a specific keyword has appeared in posts, subscriptions, and search over a period of last 90 days on WeChat, the most popular Chinese social media. We plotted daily WeChat Index from Nov 17, 2019 to Feb 14, 2020 for keywords related to the SARS-CoV-2 disease.
Results: WeChat Index for "Feidian" that is SARS in Chinese language had stayed at low levels until 16 days ahead of the outbreak announcement on Dec 31, 2019 by the local authority when the index increased significantly. Later, the index persisted at relative high levels from Dec 15, 2019 to Dec 29, 2019 and rose rapidly on Dec 30, 2019, the day just before the announcement. WeChat Index also spiked or increased for keywords "SARS", "coronavirus", "novel coronavirus", "shortness of breath", "dyspnea", and "diarrhea", but not as meaningful as "Feidian" in early detection of the outbreak.
Conclusions: Using WeChat may detect the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019 about two weeks earlier than the outbreak announcement. WeChat may offer a new approach to early detect disease outbreaks.
. 2020 Sep 13.
doi: 10.2196/19589. Online ahead of print.
Using WeChat, a Chinese social media, to early detect the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019: a retrospective study
Wenjun Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yikai Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xin Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiaoli Jia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yaping Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shuangsuo Dang[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32931439
- DOI: 10.2196/19589
Abstract
Background: A novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has started a global pandemic of pneumonia since December 2019, when first cases were reported in Wuhan, China. It has caused 2.7 million confirmed cases and nearly 200,000 deaths as of April 24, 2020. Early warning systems with new technologies should be established to avoid such disasters.
Objective: This study aimed to explore the possibility of early detecting the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019 using social media.
Methods: WeChat Index is a data service that shows how frequent a specific keyword has appeared in posts, subscriptions, and search over a period of last 90 days on WeChat, the most popular Chinese social media. We plotted daily WeChat Index from Nov 17, 2019 to Feb 14, 2020 for keywords related to the SARS-CoV-2 disease.
Results: WeChat Index for "Feidian" that is SARS in Chinese language had stayed at low levels until 16 days ahead of the outbreak announcement on Dec 31, 2019 by the local authority when the index increased significantly. Later, the index persisted at relative high levels from Dec 15, 2019 to Dec 29, 2019 and rose rapidly on Dec 30, 2019, the day just before the announcement. WeChat Index also spiked or increased for keywords "SARS", "coronavirus", "novel coronavirus", "shortness of breath", "dyspnea", and "diarrhea", but not as meaningful as "Feidian" in early detection of the outbreak.
Conclusions: Using WeChat may detect the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2019 about two weeks earlier than the outbreak announcement. WeChat may offer a new approach to early detect disease outbreaks.