Fighting the good fight: the fallout of fake news in infection prevention and why context matters

Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation on Social Media Virality: Content Analysis of Message Themes and Writing Strategies

BACKGROUND

Vaccines serve an integral role in containing pandemics, yet vaccine hesitancy is prevalent globally. One key reason for this hesitancy is the pervasiveness of misinformation on social media. Although considerable research attention has been drawn to how exposure to misinformation is closely associated with vaccine hesitancy, little scholarly attention has been given to the investigation or robust theorizing of the various content themes pertaining to antivaccine misinformation about COVID-19 and the writing strategies in which these content themes are manifested. Virality of such content on social media exhibited in the form of comments, shares, and reactions has practical implications for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated whether there were differences in the content themes and writing strategies used to disseminate antivaccine misinformation about COVID-19 and their impact on virality on social media.

METHODS

We constructed an antivaccine misinformation database from major social media platforms during September 2019-August 2021 to examine how misinformation exhibited in the form of content themes and how these themes manifested in writing were associated with virality in terms of likes, comments, and shares. Antivaccine misinformation was retrieved from two globally leading and widely cited fake news databases, COVID Global Misinformation Dashboard and International Fact-Checking Network Corona Virus Facts Alliance Database, which aim to track and debunk COVID-19 misinformation. We primarily focused on 140 Facebook posts, since most antivaccine misinformation posts on COVID-19 were found on Facebook. We then employed quantitative content analysis to examine the content themes (ie, safety concerns, conspiracy theories, efficacy concerns) and manifestation strategies of misinformation (ie, mimicking of news and scientific reports in terms of the format and language features, use of a conversational style, use of amplification) in these posts and their association with virality of misinformation in the form of likes, comments, and shares.

RESULTS

Our study revealed that safety concern was the most prominent content theme and a negative predictor of likes and shares. Regarding the writing strategies manifested in content themes, a conversational style and mimicking of news and scientific reports via the format and language features were frequently employed in COVID-19 antivaccine misinformation, with the latter being a positive predictor of likes.

CONCLUSIONS

This study contributes to a richer research-informed understanding of which concerns about content theme and manifestation strategy need to be countered on antivaccine misinformation circulating on social media so that accurate information on COVID-19 vaccines can be disseminated to the public, ultimately reducing vaccine hesitancy. The liking of COVID-19 antivaccine posts that employ language features to mimic news or scientific reports is perturbing since a large audience can be reached on social media, potentially exacerbating the spread of misinformation and hampering global efforts to combat the virus.

Patient awareness of healthcare-associated infection risk and prevention: Has there been a change in 3 decades (1989-2019)?

Using a 1989 baseline study, we surveyed 1,004 US consumers in 2019 on education and awareness of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) risk and prevention. Awareness of HAI risk remains unchanged (62% vs 65%) but belief HAIs are preventable dropped (83% vs 28%). Medical professionals and the internet are top information sources.

Hand hygiene in health care: 20 years of ongoing advances and perspectives

Health-care-associated infections are the most prevalent adverse events of hospital care, posing a substantial threat to patient safety and burden on society. Hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub is the most effective preventive strategy to reduce health-care-associated infections. Over the past two decades, various interventions have been introduced and studied to improve hand hygiene compliance among health-care workers. The global implementation of the WHO multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy and constant efforts to replace the use of soap and water with alcohol-based hand rub have led to a faster and more efficient hand cleaning method. These strategies have strongly contributed to the success of behaviour change and a subsequent decrease in health-care-associated infections and cross-transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms worldwide. The WHO multimodal behaviour change strategy requires a series of elements including system change as a prerequisite for behaviour, change, education, monitoring and performance feedback, reminders in the workplace, and an institutional safety climate. Successful adoption of the promotion strategy requires adaptation to available resources and sociocultural contexts. This Review focuses on the major advances and challenges in hand hygiene research and practices in the past 20 years and sets out various ways forward for improving this lifesaving action.

The Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Public Emergencies and the Response Capability of Residents in Shanghai after the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Cross-Sectional Study

People’s knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) are a part of the public’s emergency response capability and play an important role in controlling public health emergencies. This study aims to evaluate Shanghai residents’ KAP and the response ability regarding public health emergency events in China. An anonymous questionnaire investigation including demographics, socioeconomic characteristics and KAP was conducted through the online survey system from April 19 to April 30 2020. Of the 1243 people who completed the questionnaire, 1122 respondents (90.3%) had a good, positive attitude, while only 46.8% of participants had good knowledge, 46.2% performed well in the aspect of practice and 19.5% of residents had good response capability. It was found that men (OR:1.57,95% CI: 1.16–2.13), and people with 10 to 12 years or longer than 12 years of education (OR: 2.08,95% CI: 1.14–3.92; OR: 3.56,95% CI: 1.96–6.72) had the best public emergency response capability. Positive attitudes may be significantly associated with good practice (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.18–2.64). Internet and television were the major media for people to acquire knowledge and skills. A lack of knowledge, poor perception and poor emergency response ability were found in Shanghai residents. Target intervention should be developed and implemented to improve the knowledge and skills of people for dealing with public emergency events.

Behavioral and Attitudinal Correlates of Trusted Sources of COVID-19 Vaccine Information in the US

There is a critical need for the public to have trusted sources of vaccine information. A longitudinal online study assessed trust in COVID-19 vaccine information from 10 sources. A factor analysis for data reduction revealed two factors. The first factor contained politically conservative sources (PCS) of information. The second factor included eight news sources representing mainstream sources (MS). Multivariable logistic regression models were used. Trust in Dr. Fauci was also examined. High trust in MS was associated with intention to encourage family members to get COVID-19 vaccines, altruistic beliefs that more vulnerable people should have vaccine priority, and belief that racial minorities with higher rates of COVID-19 deaths should have priority. High trust in PCS was associated with intention to discourage friends from getting vaccinated. Higher trust in PCS was also associated with participants more likely to disagree that minorities with higher rates of COVID-19 deaths should have priority for a vaccine. High trust in Dr. Fauci as a source of COVID-19 vaccine information was associated with factors similar to high trust in MS. Fair, equitable, and transparent access and distribution are essential to ensure trust in public health systems' abilities to serve the population.

Notícias falsas em tempos de pandemia pelo novo coronavírus: uma análise documental

Introdução: A infodemia, ou fluxo elevado de informações, apresenta comportamento similar aos vírus, disseminam-se de pessoa a pessoa e representam um novo desafio às autoridades de saúde. Objetiva-se analisar as notícias falsas veiculadas no contexto da pandemia pelo novo coronavírus. Materiais e métodos: Pesquisa documental realizada com base no portal de notícias do Ministério da Saúde do Brasil intitulado "Saúde sem Fake News". Foram identificadas as publicações ocorridas de dezembro/2019 a março/2020, por meio das seguintes palavras-chave: coronavírus e COVID-19. Para a apreciação dos dados, foi adotada a análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardin. Resultados: Foram identificadas 66 publicações, com o total de 92 fake news. A análise revelou as características comuns às fake news, dentre elas: manchetes e imagens chamativas, dados alarmantes e disseminação cíclica. Além disso, as mídias sociais despontaram como importante via de disseminação e, para conferir efeito de verdade ao dito, a atribuição da autoria a órgãos ou profissionais da saúde foi comum. As notícias foram categorizadas em seis grupos temáticos: métodos para prevenção (32,6%) e história natural da doença (28,2%) foram os mais frequentes. Discussão: Observa-se o interesse crescente por temas relacionados à disseminação de informações sobre o novo coronavírus e as investigações ao redor do mundo destacam a importância da atuação do Governo e dos órgãos da saúde na identificação e combate às notícias falsas. Conclusões: As fake news relacionadas ao novo coronavírus ameaçam a saúde individual e coletiva, abordam temáticas diversas e apresentam potencial de dano à saúde física e mental.

An Assessment of the Rapid Decline of Trust in US Sources of Public Information about COVID-19

We conducted a longitidinal assessment of 806 respondents in March, 2020 in the US to examine the trustworthiness of sources of information about COVID-19. Respondents were recontacted after four months. Information sources included mainstream media, state health departments, the CDC, the White House, and a well-known university. We also examined how demographics, political partisanship, and skepticism about COVID-19 were associated with the perceived trustworthiness of information sources and decreased trustworthiness over time. At baseline, the majority of respondants reported high trust in COVID-19 information from state health departments (75.6%), the CDC (80.9%), and a university (Johns Hopkins, 81.1%). Mainstream media was trusted by less than half the respondents (41.2%), and the White House was the least trusted source (30.9%). At the 4-month follow-up, a significant decrease in trustworthiness in all five sources of COVID-19 information was observed. The most pronounced reductions were from the CDC and the White House. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with rating the CDC, state health department, and a university as trustworthy sources of COVID-19 information were political party affiliation, level of education, and skepticism about COVID-19. The most consistent predictor of decreased trust was political party affiliation, with Democrats as compared to Republicans less likely to report decreased trust across all sources.

Survival of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Pathogenic Leptospira in Cola, Beer, Energy Drinks, and Sports Drinks

Burkholderia pseudomallei and pathogenic Leptospira in contaminated drinking water can cause melioidosis and leptospirosis, respectively. Here, we evaluated their survival in beverages. We mixed six isolates (three isolates per organism) in four beverages (Coca-Cola^®, Red Bull^®, Singha^® beer, and Gatorade^®) and distilled water as the control at two final concentrations (1 × 10⁷ colony-forming units [CFU]/mL and 1 × 10³ CFU/mL). The solution was kept at two temperatures (37°C and 4°C). At 4°C and at the high concentration, pathogenic Leptospira survived in Coca-Cola^® up to 3 minutes and in Singha, Red Bull^®, and Gatorade up to 15 minutes, whereas B. pseudomallei survived in these beverages up to 8 hours, and 14, 14, and 28 days, respectively. The survival time of both organisms was shorter at 37°C (P = 0.01) and at the lower concentration (P = 0.001). In conclusion, Leptospira can survive in some beverages for up to 15 minutes, whereas B. pseudomallei can survive in some beverages for up to 4 weeks.

Consumers' Awareness and Trust Toward Food Safety News on Social Media in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Social media offers numerous advantages for personal users and organizations to communicate, socialize, and market their products. When used correctly, social media is an effective tool to communicate and to share food safety news and good practices. However, there have been reports of fake food safety news shared via social media, fueling panic and resulting in a loss of revenue. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the consumers' awareness, trust, and usage of social media in communicating food safety news in Malaysia. A questionnaire divided into five sections-(i) demographics, (ii) reaction to food safety news, (iii) consumers' awareness, (iv) social media truth and level of trust, and (v) social media uses and content creation-was created and shared online. A total of 341 questionnaires were returned of which 339 surveys were valid. This study revealed that less than one-third of the study group (27.1%) knew which of the food safety news were fake. Most respondents (67.8%) were less likely to purchase the affected foods if the foods were featured in social media as problematic, although no differences were made between true and fake news and how that would influence respondents' willingness to purchase affected foods. Overall, 62% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed about the usage of social media and its ability to prevent food poisoning cases, while more than 50% of the respondents were in total agreement that social media allow consumers to act more responsibly by sharing food safety news. Respondents tended to trust information shared by scientists (67.5%) and family members and friends (33%). Respondents would most often share the news after verifying its authenticity (46%). If respondents experienced a personal food safety issue (e.g., discovered a fly in their meal), they seldom or never took photos to post online (56.1%). It is possible that the respondents preferred to inform the food handlers and/or shop owners about the affected products rather than post the photos online. It is suggested that targeted food safety information and media literacy be provided to improve consumers' awareness and to positively influence self-verification of the food safety information before sharing. This study provides crucial insights for a range of stakeholders, particularly public authorities, food bloggers, and the public, in using social media effectively to build consumers' awareness and trust in food safety information.

HIGHLIGHTS

Missed vaccinations and critical care admission: all you may wish to know or rediscover-a narrative review

Most vaccines are so effective that they could lead to the control/elimination of the diseases they target and directly impact on intensive care admissions or complications. This is best illustrated by the use of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniae, zoster, yellow fever, Ebola virus, influenza or measles-but also by third party strategies such as maternal, toddler and care-giver immunization. However, each of these vaccine-induced protection is threatened by insufficient vaccine uptake. Here, we briefly discuss how vaccine hesitancy has led to the resurgence of diseases that were considered as controlled and explore the effect of vaccine-hesitant healthcare workers on nosocomial infections. As intensive care physicians are in charge of polymorbid patients, we briefly summarize the current recommendations for vaccinations in high-risk patients. We finally give some perspective on ongoing research, and discuss how institutional policies and intensive care physicians could play a role in increasing the impact of vaccination, overall and in intensive care units.

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand: a review of the Teaching and Learning in Action feature

Appointed at the turn of the year Donna Iriving is the incoming Teaching and Learning in Action Regular Feature Editor, in this quarters issue Donna presents and overview of Regular Features over the past five years to share examples of your best practice.