Use of Obstetric Practice Web Sites to Distribute Zika Virus Information to Pregnant Women During a Zika Virus Outbreak

Lehnert, Jonathan D.; Ellingson, Mallory K.; Goryoka, Grace W.; Kasturi, Raghuraj; Maier, Emily; Chamberlain, Allison T.

Health care providers need the ability to endorse and disseminate information to their patients during public health emergencies that requires minimal time investment and has the ability to reach patients outside office hours. Public health professionals should recognize the added value of information that has been endorsed by a patient's health care provider. One way for providers to rapidly distribute public health resources to their patients is through their existing practice Web sites. Knowing that Zika virus infection poses the greatest risk to obstetrical patients, this study describes whether and how obstetric care providers in the United States have been using their practice Web sites to distribute public health information about Zika virus. In this article, we present the prevalence of Zika virus information posted on obstetric practice-sponsored Web sites and social media accounts at 2 key points in time during the Zika virus epidemic: in January 2016 shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released the first practice advisory for Zika virus, and in August 2016 shortly after localized transmission was first announced in the continental United States. In addition, we report the prevalence of selected content themes and how Zika virus-related content and characteristics have changed over the course of the emergency.