1887
  1. Home
  2. Eurosurveillance
  3. Volume 24, Issue 21, 23/May/2019
  4. Article
Research Open Access
Like 0
Download

Abstract

Background

In an outbreak of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Berlin (2016 and 2017), patients frequently reported anonymous sex and use of dating applications to meet sexual contacts, hampering tracing and vaccination of contacts.

Aim

Our objective was to evaluate dating apps and websites as a means of spreading prevention messages among MSM during the ongoing outbreak.

Methods

Advertisements in different formats were placed on three MSM dating apps and eight websites for anonymous dating during three weeks in March and April 2017. We calculated frequency of ads shown and click-through rates (CTR) and investigated the independent effect of format and platform on the number of clicks using a negative binomial regression model. We evaluated the campaign’s impact using a survey among visitors of a large gay-lesbian street-festival in Berlin.

Results

Overall, 1,920,180 ads were shown and clicked on 8,831 times (CTR = 0.46%). The multivariable model showed significantly more clicks on one dating app (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 9.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.7–12.2) than on websites and on full-screen ads (IRR = 3.1; 95% CI: 2.5–3.8) than on banner ads. Of 266 MSM who participated in the survey, 190 (71%) knew about the outbreak and 39 (15%) declared to have been vaccinated recently because of the campaign.

Conclusions

Dating apps provided a means to rapidly reach and influence a substantial number of MSM in Berlin and should complement case-based contact tracing among MSM in outbreak settings. Clicking on ads depended on platform and format used.

© Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460
2019-05-23
2020-12-05
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460
Loading
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/eurosurveillance/24/21/eurosurv-24-21-5.html?itemId=/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. World Health Organization (WHO). Hepatitis A. Fact sheet. Geneva: WHO; 2018. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs328/en/
  2. Mazick A, Howitz M, Rex S, Jensen IP, Weis N, Katzenstein TL, et al. Hepatitis A outbreak among MSM linked to casual sex and gay saunas in Copenhagen, Denmark. Euro Surveill. 2005;10(5):5-6.  https://doi.org/10.2807/esm.10.05.00536-en  PMID: 29183495 
  3. Sfetcu O, Irvine N, Ngui SL, Emerson C, McCaughey C, Donaghy P. Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(9):16. PMID: 21392487 
  4. Tortajada C, de Olalla PG, Pinto RM, Bosch A, Caylà J. Outbreak of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men in Barcelona, Spain, September 2008-March 2009. Euro Surveill. 2009;14(15):14. PMID: 19371516 
  5. Høybye G, Skinhøj P, Hentzer B, Faber V, Mathiesen L. An epidemic of acute viral hepatitis in male homosexuals. Etiology and clinical characteristics. Scand J Infect Dis. 1980;12(4):241-4.  https://doi.org/10.3109/inf.1980.12.issue-4.01  PMID: 7006056 
  6. Irving GJ, Holden J, Yang R, Pope D. Hepatitis A immunisation in persons not previously exposed to hepatitis A. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012; (7):CD009051.  https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009051.pub2  PMID: 22786522 
  7. Impfkommission S. (STIKO). Empfehlungen der Ständigen Impfkommission (STIKO) am Robert Koch-Institut 2016/2017. [Recommendations of the German Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute 2016/2017]. Epidemiologisches Bulletin. 2016;34:333-80. German. Available from: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Infekt/EpidBull/Archiv/2016/Ausgaben/34_16.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
  8. Robert Koch-Institut (RKI). Infektionsepidemiologisches Jahrbuch meldepflichtiger Krankheiten für 2016. [Epidemiological infection yearbook for notifiable diseases for 2016]. Berlin: RKI; 2017. German. Available from: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Infekt/Jahrbuch/Jahrbuch_2016.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
  9. Parrón I, Planas C, Godoy P, Manzanares-Laya S, Martínez A, Sala MR, et al. Effectiveness of hepatitis A vaccination as post-exposure prophylaxis. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2017;13(2):423-7.  https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2017.1264798  PMID: 27925847 
  10. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Epidemiological update: hepatitis A outbreak in the EU/EEA mostly affecting men who have sex with men. Stockholm: ECDC; 2018. Available from: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-hepatitis-outbreak-eueea-mostly-affecting-men-who-have-sex-men-1
  11. Werber D, Michaelis K, Hausner M, Sissolak D, Wenzel J, Bitzegeio J, et al. Ongoing outbreaks of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men (MSM), Berlin, November 2016 to January 2017 - linked to other German cities and European countries. Euro Surveill. 2017;22(5).  https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.5.30457  PMID: 28183391 
  12. Badal HJ, Stryker JE, DeLuca N, Purcell DW. Swipe right. Dating website and app use among men who have sex with men. AIDS Behav. 2018;22(4):1265-72.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1882-7  PMID: 28884248 
  13. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Understanding the impact of smartphone applications on STI/HIV prevention among men who have sex with men in the EU/EEA. Stockholm: ECDC; 2015. Available from: https://ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/media/en/publications/Publications/impact-smartphone-applications-sti-hiv-prevention-among-men-who-have-sex-with-men.pdf
  14. Thomas DR, Williams CJ, Andrady U, Anderson V, Humphreys S, Midgley CM, et al. Outbreak of syphilis in men who have sex with men living in rural North Wales (UK) associated with the use of social media. Sex Transm Infect. 2016;92(5):359-64.  https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2015-052323  PMID: 27147613 
  15. Beebeejaun K, Degala S, Balogun K, Simms I, Woodhall SC, Heinsbroek E, et al. Outbreak of hepatitis A associated with men who have sex with men (MSM), England, July 2016 to January 2017. Euro Surveill. 2017;22(5).  https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.5.30454  PMID: 28183392 
  16. Gilbart VL, Simms I, Jenkins C, Furegato M, Gobin M, Oliver I, et al. Sex, drugs and smart phone applications: findings from semistructured interviews with men who have sex with men diagnosed with Shigella flexneri 3a in England and Wales. Sex Transm Infect. 2015;91(8):598-602.  https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2015-052014  PMID: 25921020 
  17. Marcus U, Schmidt AJ, Kollan C, Hamouda O. The denominator problem: estimating MSM-specific incidence of sexually transmitted infections and prevalence of HIV using population sizes of MSM derived from Internet surveys. BMC Public Health. 2009;9(1):181.  https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-181  PMID: 19519889 
  18. Robert Koch-Institut (RKI). Falldefinitionen des Robert Koch-Instituts zur Übermittlung von Erkrankungs- oder Todesfällen und Nachweisen von Krankheitserregern. [Case definitions for the surveillance of notifiable infectious diseases in Germany]. Berlin: RKI; 2015. Available from: https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Infekt/IfSG/Falldefinition/Downloads/Falldefinitionen_des_RKI.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
  19. Regan DG, Wood JG, Benevent C, Ali H, Smith LW, Robertson PW, et al. Estimating the critical immunity threshold for preventing hepatitis A outbreaks in men who have sex with men. Epidemiol Infect. 2016;144(7):1528-37.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268815002605  PMID: 26566273 
Dating apps and websites as tools to reach anonymous sexual contacts during an outbreak of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men, Berlin, 2017
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Claudia+Ruscher&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ruscher Claudia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Dirk+Werber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Werber Dirk</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Janine+Thoulass&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Thoulass Janine</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ruth+Zimmermann&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Zimmermann Ruth</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Matthias+Eckardt&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Eckardt Matthias</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Christian+Winter&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Winter Christian</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Daniel+Sagebiel&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Sagebiel Daniel</a></span>. Dating apps and websites as tools to reach anonymous sexual contacts during an outbreak of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men, Berlin, 2017. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2019;24(21):pii=1800460. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 20 Aug 2018;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 06 Mar 2019 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.21.1800460
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Submit comment
Close
Comment moderation successfully completed
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error