CHICAGO (AP) – Actor Charlie Sheen was called a lot of things during his bad-boy days. Until now, public health promoter wasn’t one of them.
Sheen’s revelation that he’s infected with the AIDS virus prompted the greatest number of HIV-related Google searches recorded in the United States since 2004, and more than 1 million of them involved public health-related information.
That’s according to a new study from San Diego State University research professor John Ayers and colleagues, who examined the impact of the announcement Nov. 17 by the former star of TV’s “Two and a Half Men.”
“While no one should be forced to reveal HIV status, Sheen’s disclosure may benefit public health by helping many people learn more about HIV infection and prevention,” the researchers wrote in a report published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
They analyzed Google trends data along with news trends from a Bloomberg LP terminal system from 2004 through three weeks after Sheen’s announcement.