Wikipedia searches and the epidemiology of infectious diseases: A systematic review

This review aims to collect, analyse and synthesize the available evidence that can be provided by Wikipedia for epidemiologic surveillance purposes. PRISMA guidelines were followed. PubMed/Medline and Scopus were consulted. Out of 238 retrieved articles, 16 articles were included in the systematic review. The most frequently assessed infectious disease was Influenza, followed by arboviruses and measles. Influenza studies show that Wikipedia could be consid-ered a scientifically valid surveillance system that fills the main gaps in existing traditional surveillance systems. As regards arboviruses, searches on the Web have positively mediated the relationship between epidemiological data and the number of Wikipedia page visualization. Regarding measles, studies showed a strong/moderate temporal correlation between infectious disease notification bulletins and Wikipedia search trends. Despite the type of infectious agents, three main aims can be detected: (i) understand the public's interest, (ii) explore the use of Wikipedia by organizations, and (iii) assess the accuracy of Wikipedia content. These new strategies for surveillance of infectious diseases should be implemented, to date they could be useful in supporting traditional surveillance.