Scarlet fever among NHS website’s top ten most searched for conditions in 2022

Coronavirus, chickenpox and scarlet fever were among the most commonly viewed conditions on the NHS website in 2022. 

A 2022 Top Ten list compiled by NHS Digital shows the most popular pages related to Coronavirus, with 16.3 million visits to advice on COVID-19 symptoms, testing and self-care, followed by 4.3 million clicks on long Covid.

High blood pressure was the third most-visited condition, attracting 3.8 million views, while scarlet fever, chickenpox and monkeypox all saw big increases in visits, compared with 2021.

Visits to the chickenpox page more than doubled in 2022 to become the fourth most visited condition, with 3.7 million against 1.7 million in 2021.

Scarlet fever was the seventh most visited page, with 3 million visits in 2022 – seven times the amount of clicks in 2021, when there were 414,000.

There were also 60 times as many visits to the page on monkeypox with 2.1 million in 2022, compared to only 35,000 in 2021.

Visits to the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) page remained high, increasing from 3.1 million in 2021 to 3.5 million in 2022, making it the fifth most visited condition of the year.

Searches for fever in children were also up in 2022, with 3.4 million visits compared with 2.9 million in 2021, and diarrhoea and vomiting page visits increased from 2.4 million in 2021 to 2.9 million in 2022.

Tonsillitis received 2.8 million hits in 2022 from 2.1 million in 2021, and rashes in babies and children increased to 2.7 million in 2022 from 2.4 million the previous year.

The ten most viewed pages about medical conditions in 2022 were:
1.    Coronavirus (16.3 million)
2.    Long Covid (4.3 million)
3.    High blood pressure (3.8 million)
4.    Chickenpox (3.7 million)
5.    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3.5 million)
6.    Fever in children (3.4 million)
7.    Scarlet fever (3 million)
8.    Diarrhoea and vomiting (2.9 million)
9.    Tonsillitis (2.8 million)
10.    Rashes in babies and children (2.7 million)

Joe Risk, NHS Digital’s head of delivery for the NHS website, said: “Millions of people used the NHS website in 2022 for the latest Covid information or to book a vaccination, as well as for advice on topics ranging from high blood pressure to diarrhoea and vomiting.

“Providing access to the latest medical advice and making it as easy as possible for people to access is our top priority, to ensure we continue to support and improve health across the country.”

The NHS website, which is managed by NHS Digital, is the UK's biggest health website with an estimated 2.6 million visits a day in 2022 from people seeking information and advice. It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions.

The most popular page on the NHS website in 2022 was the COVID-19 vaccination booking page, with 60 million visits.

Other health services available on the website include applying for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card for healthcare cover abroad, finding a GP, and a BMI healthy weight calculator.