A public confession made last year by actor Charlie Sheen about his condition of HIV sparked more searches on the internet about this disease in the US, today unveiled a study led by a researcher at San Diego State University (SDSU) .
The actor announced in November 2015 for four years carrying the AIDS virus and who chose to speak publicly on the subject after being blackmailed by people who are not identified to prevent their situation was known.
"While no one should be forced to disclose their HIV status-and all diagnostics are tragic-, revealing (Charlie) Sheen can benefit public health, potentially helping people learn more about HIV and prevention, "wrote professor of public health, John W. Ayers.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that in the United States over 1.2 million people living with HIV, of which about 13% do not know.
Charlie Sheen shared the same through his Twitter account, which has more than 11 million followers, the link to the SDSU research with the message: "honest, humble, inspired, hopeful ...".
The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said that the actor made public since the day your medical condition, November 17, 2015 on the Today show on NBC, searches for information online HIV, symptoms, testing and condom use increased by 417, 540, 214 and 75 percent, respectively.
This increase in information search comes amid a "historical decline" in information on prevention and awareness of HIV, the article mentions.
In the past two years, the number of media reports on HIV declined from 67 per 1,000 in 2014, to 12 per 1,000 in 2015. In contrast, the day of the announcement of Sheen, the prey items increased by 265 %, with more than 6500 stories only in Google News.
The study, entitled "News and Web searches on the human immunodeficiency virus after Charlie Sheen's confession" also makes a comparison Sheen case with other cases of celebrities who announced their status as the basketball player Earvin " Magic "Johnson, who announced his HIV infection case in 1991.
"For Sheen, contrary to Magic Johnson for example, we now have smartphones in our pockets that can easily be used to learn about HIV in seconds with one search or click," said Eric Leas, student SDSU and coauthor of the report.
"At the same time, social networks can extend the effect of the revelation of Sheen beyond the initial broadcast on television in forming networks around celebrities," he added co-author of a report published on the website of SDSU.
Research indicates that although the confession of the film actor and television has brought enormous benefits to public health, has yet to be worked "Charlie Sheen effect is longer lasting."
Even, the researcher John W. Ayers referred in his Twitter account that the actor could become a "champion of HIV." EFE