ALTMETRICS TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF AEDES AEGYPTI INFORMATION PUBLISHED ON THE WEB BY TELESSAÚDERS/UFRGS

Introduction: In the first three weeks of January 2016, there were 73.872 cases of dengue in Brazil. According to the Ministry of Health, there was a 48.2% increase in the number of cases compared to the same period in 2015. In order to contain the epidemic, the TelessaúdeRS research project of the Graduate Program in Epidemiology of University Federal do Rio Grande do Sul has developed a strategy combining education campaigns and online information. Implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Health Office of Rio Grande do Sul, the strategy aims to educate the public about the need to combat the Aedes aegypti, which transmits the dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Courses and videos provide information on characteristics of the mosquito-borne disease and forms of protection. The channels used include social media like YouTube and Facebook. This paper analyzes the visibility of educational and informational materials produced and made available online by TelessaúdeRS and its partners. Method: quantitative analysis based on alternative metrics of online activities. The research quantifies visits, downloads and evaluations by users of those materials. Results and Conclusion: Between November 2015 and January 2016, TelessaúdeRS published 125 materials on the subject on the Internet. Preliminary data indicate that these were visualized by 227,766 users in Facebook®, YouTube® e Twitter®. A strategy with guidelines for combating Aedes was well received by web users, showing that social media can be important allies in the dissemination of health information in emergency situations.