Lesson on Misinformation in the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a massive infodemic, that was exacerbated by the global scale of the emergency. The word infodemic derives from information and epidemic, the term was first used to refer to an abundance of information on a certain topic, displayed in a very short period of time and regardless of the information’s quality. During the last 2 years, scientific journals were under tremendous pressure to publish information on COVID-19 as quickly as possible, releasing articles that had not been peer-reviewed, which led to an overabundance of information that was propagated rapidly and ultimately retracted after further investigation. The consequences of this infodemic are unprecedented, they went from mistrusting treatments and intervention measures to consuming toxic substances that led to severe intoxication. Misinformation caused individuals to manifest panic attacks and other psychiatric illnesses, or even generated political crises encouraged by public discord promoted by fake news. The following work reviews the impact of misinformation so far through the COVID-19 pandemic.