The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) is once again prevalent in the United States. We investigated temporal patterns in Google search queries for bed bugs and co-occurring terms, and conducted in-person surveys to explore the intentions behind searches that included those terms. Searches for “bed bugs” rose steadily through 2011 and then plateaued, suggesting that the epidemic has reached an equilibrium in the United States. However, queries including terms that survey respondents associated strongly with having bed bugs (e.g., “exterminator,” “remedies”) continued to climb, while terms more closely associated with informational searches (e.g., “hotels,” “about”) fell. Respondents' rankings of terms and nonseasonal trends in Google search volume as assessed by a cosinor model were significantly correlated (Kendall's Tau-b P = 0.015). We find no evidence from Google Trends that the bed bug epidemic in the United States has reached equilibrium.
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16 October 2015
Seasons, Searches, and Intentions: What The Internet Can Tell Us About the Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Epidemic
Daniel Sentana-Lledo,
Corentin M. Barbu,
Michelle N. Ngo,
Yage Wu,
Karthik Sethuraman,
Michael Z. Levy
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Journal of Medical Entomology
Vol. 53 • No. 1
January 2016
Vol. 53 • No. 1
January 2016
bed bug
Google Trends
infodemiology
Internet
interview