Winter

With winter looming over us, most health magazines and sites have penned down numerous articles on staying healthy this season. Now, a study by Department of Health professionals has revealed that the number of people visiting the web for tips to stay fit this winter has apparently witnessed a record high.

The NHS Choices website seemed to be the most frequented page between October and the end of December with almost a 53% rise in the visits as compared to the same phase last fall. This figure was achieved in spite of the low cases of flu in 2011. This accounted for almost 368,000 visits each day, as compared to 235,000 visits in a day observed in 2010.

During Christmas, speculations about the Norovirus led to a surge in the number of people opening pages linked to the winter vomiting bug by 162%, relative to the same time the previous year. Cumulatively, there were apparently 116,085 visits to sites related to Norovirus, while there seemed to be about 70,347 visits during the same period in 2010.

NHS Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh remarked, “NHS Choices is the world’s leading health website used by around 11 million patients every month. NHS Choices’ high quality, clinically assured information is even more important over the winter months. Whether finding information on self care for minor ailments or the location of the nearest pharmacy, NHS Choices can help people look after themselves and reduce pressure on the NHS, enabling resources to be concentrated where they’re most needed.”

Information associated with flu vaccination programs and diagnoses also witnessed an elevation with nearly 91% increase in hits attained for the ‘who should have it’ page and a 73% rise in the ‘about the vaccine’ page.

Moreover, the visits to the domain www.nhs.uk supposedly rose by 35% every year during the colder months. Notably, individuals using mobile apps to seek health assistance by means of facilities like Quit Smoking mobile phone iPhone app and the NHS Choices’ Alcohol Tracker also rose by 13% and 43%, correspondingly.