Title
Seasons, searches, and intentions: What the internet can tell us about the bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) epidemic
Date Issued
01 January 2016
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
University of Pennsylvania
Publisher(s)
Entomological Society of America
Abstract
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.
Start page
116
End page
121
Volume
53
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Ecología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84959886291
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Medical Entomology
ISSN of the container
00222585
DOI of the container
10.1093/jme/tjv158
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus