Internet Search Activity for Leptospirosis in Yogyakarta Province: A comparison with Official Leptospirosis Report

Leptospirosis is a potentially fatal zoonosis that is endemic in many tropical regions and causes epidemics. In Indonesia, Yogyakarta province has the highest fatality rate. Google Trends have been considered as an alternative data source for disease surveillance program. This study is aimed to explore Google Trends data as an alternative source for leptospirosis surveillance in Yogyakarta. Five years monthly data of information searching pattern from Google started from 2013 to 2017 were extracted, with search terms “leptospirosis”. Case notification reports from Provincial Health Office were used to validate the data. Pearson Correlation was used to compare time series data. This study showed moderate correlation (r= 0.54, P-value= 0.000) between Google Trend and surveillance program data, and it indicated similarity pattern and Google Trends is potential to be used as an alternative source for leptospirosis surveillance in Yogyakarta Province.