Measles social media and surveillance in Baltimore City.

Monday, 29th of August 2016

J Public Health (Oxf). 2016 Aug 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Measles social media and surveillance in Baltimore City.

Warren KE¹ Wen LS¹.

Author information

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Baltimore City was faced with two potential measles outbreaks in 2015. Both cases occurred in the wake of national media attention paid to the Disneyland outbreaks of the same year.

METHODS:

A comparative case study approach was used applying qualitative data to elicit best practices in infectious disease protocols in the age of social media. The research also used search engine data from Google Trends to track constituent engagement over time.

RESULTS:

Across the two case studies the Baltimore City Health Department identified a number of best practices to inform the public via social media and minimize levels of misinformation and panic. These practices included clarity in messaging across platforms and public health jurisdictions; pre-emptor alerts of potential measles cases to control and shape the media messaging; and targeted in-person outreach to engage groups in a culturally competent manner.

CONCLUSIONS:

The Baltimore City Health Departments response drew out a critical need for re-examining infectious disease protocols in the age of social media (e.g. contact notification quarantine media sensitivity) and anti-vaccination movements that pose new obstacles to government intervention. The benefits and challenges of greater connectivity between providers patients and public health officers are discussed.

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

NB: This is a pay per view article. Full article can be found on URL: http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/12/pubmed.fdw076.long