The COVID misinfodemic: not new, never more lethal

Abstract

'Infodemia' is a portmanteau between 'information' and 'epidemics', referring to wide and rapid accumulation and dissemination of information, misinformation, and disinformation about a given subject, such as a disease. As facts, rumors and fears mix and disperse, the misinfodemic creates loud background noise, preventing the general public from discerning between accurate and false information. We compared and contrasted key elements of the AIDS and COVID-19 misinfodemics, to identify common features, and, based on experience with the AIDS pandemic, recommend actions to control and reverse the SARS-CoV-2 misinfodemic that contributed to erode the trust between the public and scientists and governments and has created barriers to control of COVID-19. As pandemics emerge and evolve, providing robust responses to future misinfodemics must be a priority for society and public health.

Keywords: HIV; simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV).

Figure 1

The shared features of the AIDS and SARS-CoV-2 misinfodemics can be grouped as (i) false arguments; (ii) accumulating information resulting in shifts in paradigms of pathogenesis, therapy, and public health measures, inherent to scientific discovery, but leading to which erode public trust; and (iii) arguments against the strategies for disease prevention. These are not mutually exclusive, they impact each other and, altogether, contribute to public confusion, eroding trust between the different components of society.