ArticleFrontiers in public health2025
Monitoring OTC drug sales for early detection of respiratory infectious disease outbreaks.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Digital Prescription-Based Influenza Activity Forecasting in Jiangxi Province, China: Comparative Modeling Analysis Using Multisource Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Feasibility of using community pharmacy sales of over-the-counter respiratory products as a syndromic surveillance indicator: a pilot study from Sofia, Bulgaria.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: In recent years, over-the-counter (OTC) drug sales have emerged as a novel indicator for symptom monitoring, attracting widespread attention in public health research globally. This study conducted weekly monitoring of five OTC drug categories related to fever respiratory system diagnostic cluster (FRSDC) - antitussive/expectorant drugs, cold medications, antibiotics, pungent and cool exterior-relieving agents, and influenza medicine - in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, from 2022 to 2024. Concurrently, weekly FRSDC cases from Pinghu First People's Hospital were collected. Methods: Spearman correlation analysis was used to quantify associations between OTC sales and FRSDC cases, while decision tree models evaluated the reliability of OTC data for early prediction of FRSDC trends. Results: Results showed significant positive correlations between all five OTC drugs and FRSDC cases, with synchronous seasonal peaks in winter and spring (Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.36 to 0.80, all Conclusion: These findings suggest that monitoring OTC drug sales may serve as a useful early warning indicator for FRSDC, potentially aiding public health response and resource planning.
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