Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Social histories of public health misinformation and infodemics: case studies of four pandemics
The Lancet Recognition of misinformation as a public health threat and interest in infodemics, defined as an inundation of information accompanying an epidemic or acute health event, have increased worldwide. However, scientists have no consensus on how to best define and identify misinformation and other essential characteristics of infodemics. We conducted a narrative review of […]
Nov 20, 2024
Medical Boards Barely Acted Amid Flood of COVID Misinformation
Medscape Only a handful of physicians in the five most populous states faced medical board discipline over spreading misinformation to the community during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study found. In California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, only six physicians were disciplined for disseminating medical misinformation in the first years of […]
Nov 13, 2024
Vaccine Hesitancy: COVID-19 to Influenza
AJMC Back in 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed vaccine hesitancy—the outright refusal or reluctance to get vaccinated regardless of the availability of vaccines—as a top-10 threat to global health.1 At the time, WHO estimated that vaccinations prevented up to 3 million deaths each year; furthermore, an additional 1.5 million deaths could be prevented if global […]
Oct 22, 2024
WHO Partners With TikTok to Tackle Misinformation
Practice Business WHO says the collaboration reflects its commitment to promoting global health literacy by leveraging various digital communications technologies. With around one in four young people receiving their news via social media, senior WHO figures want to combat the increasingly prominent issue of misinformation. With the platform reportedly reaching more than one billion people […]
Oct 9, 2024
Race to combat mpox misinformation as vaccine rollout in DRC begins
Guardian For doctors and nurses fighting mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the virus itself is not the only enemy. They are also facing swirling rumours and misinformation. The first of millions of promised doses of mpox vaccine have finally started to arrive. Now the focus is on ensuring that people who need them will take them […]
Oct 2, 2024
Florida’s New Covid Booster Guidance Is Straight-Up Misinformation
KFF In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from covid-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous. Clinicians and scientists denounced the message as politically fueled scaremongering that also weakens efforts to protect against diseases like […]
Sep 25, 2024
Vaccine Misinformation Spreads as Children Head Back to School
KFF This edition highlights vaccine hesitancy and misinformation around MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccines as children return to school and measles cases resurge in parts of the U.S. We also examine emerging narratives around COVID-19 vaccine misinformation following the FDA approval of COVID-19 boosters and false claims linking mpox to the vaccines. Additionally, a review of recent research explores […]
Sep 18, 2024
More accept COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and willingness to vaccinate has declined
Penn State A health survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds a rise in the number of Americans believing COVID-19 vaccination misinformation, and a lower willingness to vaccinate. With the nation in the midst of a summer surge of COVID-19 infections and increased hospitalizations due to the disease, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) […]
Sep 11, 2024
COVID vaccine distrust growing among Americans, survey finds: ‘Should be a personal choice’
Fox Nearly a quarter of people think it is safer to get COVID than it is to get vaccinated. A growing number of Americans are skeptical of vaccines for COVID and other infectious diseases, according to the most recent national health survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. More than a […]
Sep 3, 2024
Doctors accused of spreading misinformation lose certifications
Washington Post The American Board of Internal Medicine revoked the certifications of Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, two physicians known for continuing to promote ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication, as a treatment for covid long after the medical community found it to be ineffective. The two men co-founded the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, which experts say spread misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. The Board’s website listed both […]
Aug 14, 2024