Effect of Infodemic Regarding the Illegal Sale of Medications on the Internet: Evaluation of Demand and Online Availability of Ivermectin during the COVID-19 Pandemic

András Fittler, Latifat Adeniye, Zoltán Katz and Richárd Bella
Additional contact information
András Fittler: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary
Latifat Adeniye: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary
Zoltán Katz: Department of Operational Medicine, University of Pécs, Medical School, Szigeti Street 12, 7624 Pécs, Hungary
Richárd Bella: Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic generated confusion and increased demand of various pharmaceuticals, ushering in the opportunity for illicit online vendors to fill a gap in the marketplace using potentially dangerous products. The aim of our study is to provide evidence regarding increased demand, online availability and consumer accessibility of ivermectin, an anthelmintic agent, without substantiated indications in reference to SARS-CoV-2. In our study, we combined infodemiology methodology aligned with search engine result assessment and website analytics to evaluate patient safety risks. Users’ Google queries regarding ivermectin were trending and peaked during the last week of November 2020 and March 2021. Consumers more likely found links leading directly or indirectly (via redirection) to illegal online retailers representing nearly half (53.3%) of search engine result links regarding the first three result pages in December 2020 and topped off at 73.3% by March 2021. Illicit medicine retailers outnumbered and outranked their legitimate counterparts and dominated the first search engine results page. A vast majority (77.7%) of the identified online pharmacies were characteristically rogue; more than half (55.5%) offered prescription-only products without a valid medical prescription. Our results illustrate connection between infodemic and its consequences on the illicit online pharmacy market

Keywords: illegal online pharmacies; infodemic; coronavirus; ivermectin; self-medication; misinformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7475/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7475/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7475-:d:593522

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().