Dispelling Covid-19 Misinformation

Med Ref Serv Q. 2022 Jan-Mar;41(1):80-85. doi: 10.1080/02763869.2022.2021036.

Abstract

At the writing of this article at the start of November 2021, 247,416,351 persons have died of COVID-19 worldwide and 46,815,210 have died in the United States.1 Along with the tragic loss has come an infodemic-the widespread of misinformation in social media and published literature. Infodemiology is the study of analyzing the relationship between channels of health information demands and health information supply. Healthcare providers have an important role to quash this misinformation at all information access points. Hospital Librarians and other health information professionals also have a role to play to work with other health professionals, to dispel this misinformation. This article speaks to those two subjects and highlights Dear Pandemic.org and "Those Nerdy Girls."

Keywords: COVID-19; DearPandemic.org; Those Nerdy Girls; health information professionals; infodemic; infodemiology; misinformation.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Communication
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Social Media*
  • Vereinigte Staaten