Survivors and the Response to the Ebola Virus Disease in the Provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo

We explored issues around the integration of survivors in communities and the implications for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) response in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We conducted a survey with 800 randomly selected respondents using a structured questionnaire. Respondents were persons aged 18 years and above. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) were employed to obtain contextual data on the issues. Community leaders, health workers, and response pillar leads engaged in IDIs, while community members were involved in FGDs. The results revealed that the survivors suffered stigmatization and, upon return to the communities, were avoided by the community members due to fear of contamination. Some thought that the survivors should be supported in adjusting to the community, while some recommended engaging the survivors in EVD response activities.

Perceptions and Rumors About the Ebola Virus Disease Vaccine in the Ituri and Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Perceptions and rumors about vaccinations can contribute to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to examine perceptions and rumors about the Ebola vaccine during the 10th Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eight hundred randomly selected respondents were surveyed with a uniform structured questionnaire. Further, we collected qualitative data through focus group discussions and using in-depth interview guides. Results revealed several misperceptions and rumors about the vaccine, which led to some level of vaccine hesitancy and refusal among the people. The acceptance rate of the vaccine was 67.3% (below the 80% threshold needed to create herd immunity in the population). More of the urban population (31.3%) than the rural population (10.4%) accepted the vaccine. Refusals were largely due to fear that the vaccine could activate other diseases in the body and could even kill. Some feared that it was a conspiracy of the government to reduce the population in the study area through forced fertility control and death, among other such concerns. In conclusion, these rumors increased mistrust, which challenged the efforts of the government and its partners to safeguard the health of the people.

Two Obstacles in Response Efforts to the Ebola Epidemic in the Provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Denial of and Rumors about the Disease

Denial and rumors are two major obstacles impairing the implementation of activities in response to the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic. This study investigated the roles of denial and rumors, among other challenges, in complicating the response to the EVD outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A total of 800 randomly selected respondents were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 community religious and opinion leaders, as well as Ebola survivors. Furthermore, 20 focus group discussions were conducted with adult and youth male and female participants, and health care workers. The results revealed that the existence of the disease is widely denied by many, including political leaders, village chiefs, neighborhood chiefs, street chiefs, avenue chiefs, and members of the general population. These individuals generally consider the EVD to be the result of a misbehavior or a curse; consequently, the general population, including community members, teachers, and even health care professionals, refuse to comply with the authorities' strategies to fight the epidemic. Rumors are another obstacle in response efforts. Rumors pertaining to the denial of the existence of the EVD, as well as the epidemic, Ebola treatment centers, hospitals, vaccines, and safe and dignified burials have been identified. Rumors about the EVD and the response, spread by clerics, traditional therapists, men, and women, including healthcare professionals in focus group discussions, portrayed the EVD as an invention, as if the virus had been created. The response to the EVD has been marked by these two constraints, which have often hindered the involvement of community members in the fight against the disease.

Trust in government buffers the negative effect of rumor exposure on people's emotions

Although we are surrounded by various kinds of rumors during the coronavirus disease pandemic, little is known about their primary content, what effect they might have on our emotions, and the potential factors that may buffer their effect. Combining qualitative (study 1 extracted 1907 rumors from top rumor-refuting websites using the Python Web Crawler and conducted content analysis) and quantitative (study 2 conducted an online survey adopting a three-wave design, N = 444) research methods, the current study revealed that government-related rumors accounted for the largest proportion of rumors during the outbreak stage of the pandemic and were positively associated with the public's negative emotions. We also found that trust in government negatively moderated the relationship between government-related rumors and negative emotions. Specifically, when people had low trust in government, exposure to government-related rumors was positively associated with negative emotions. However, when people had high trust in government, the association was non-significant. For positive emotions, we found no significant effects of government-related rumors. The findings highlight the importance of rumor control during public emergencies and cultivating public trust in government in the long run.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03508-x.

The extent of people's response to rumors and false news in light of the crisis of the Corona virus

BACKGROUND

With the spread of the Corona virus globally, the negative effects increased at all levels, especially the economic and social sectors. The situation was made worse by the spread of rumors and false information about what this virus is and ways to prevent it.

OBJECTIVE

Test how people interact with different information circulating through social media and online platforms.

METHODS

The DATA was taken from a survey conducted in 2020 on 1500 quarantined people between the ages 18-60 years old. A questionnaire was created containing most of the rumors and false information circulated, in addition to the correct information with a reliable source. The results were analyzed in the form of tables showing the proportions of supporters and opponents and expressed in numbers and percentages.

RESULTS

A total of 2000 quarantined people participated in the study with the mean age (30.35 ± 9.9 years). Where the response rate is 100%. The analysis showed a large percentage of support for health protections against the Corona virus, and a large rejection of most of the fake information and rumors circulating across the Internet platforms, in addition to their solidarity within the principles of social responsibility.

CONCLUSION

The extent of the spread of rumors and false information is decreasing based on the presence of governments and the competent authorities through their official platforms within the mechanism of fighting against the Corona virus, and also taking advantage of the current mistakes to be a shield in the future in dealing with such crises.

Spread mechanism and control strategy of social network rumors under the influence of COVID-19

Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19), the disease has rapidly spread to the world, and the cumulative number of cases is now more than 2.3 million. We aim to study the spread mechanism of rumors on social network platform during the spread of COVID-19 and consider education as a control measure of the spread of rumors. Firstly, a novel epidemic-like model is established to characterize the spread of rumor, which depends on the nonautonomous partial differential equation. Furthermore, the registration time of network users is abstracted as 'age,' and the spreading principle of rumors is described from two dimensions of age and time. Specifically, the susceptible users are divided into higher-educators class and lower-educators class, in which the higher-educators class will be immune to rumors with a higher probability and the lower-educators class is more likely to accept and spread the rumors. Secondly, the existence and uniqueness of the solution is discussed and the stability of steady-state solution of the model is obtained. Additionally, an interesting conclusion is that the education level of the crowd is an essential factor affecting the final scale of the spread of rumors. Finally, some control strategies are presented to effectively restrain the rumor propagation, and numerical simulations are carried out to verify the main theoretical results.

Clusters of genetic diseases in Brazil

The aim of this paper is to present a database of isolated communities (CENISO) with high prevalence of genetic disorders or congenital anomalies in Brazil. We used two strategies to identify such communities: (1) a systematic literature review and (2) a "rumor strategy" based on anecdotal accounts. All rumors and reports were validated in a stepwise process. The bibliographical search identified 34 rumors and 245 rumors through the rumor strategy, and 144 were confirmed. A database like this one presented here represents an important tool for the planning of health priorities for rare diseases in low- and middle-income countries with large populations.