A recently published study stated that “false news”, including misinformation and improper advice on social media, could make disease outbreak worse.
In an analysis of the impact of misinformation on the spread of diseases, scientists at the University of East Anglia (UK) said that any efforts that succeed in preventing people from spreading false news can save lives.
Regarding the new Corona virus (Covid-19), Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at UAA and a leader of the research team, said, “There is a lot of speculation, misinformation, and false news on the Internet ... about how the virus originated, its causes and how it spread.”
And he added, "False information means that false advice can spread very quickly, and it can change human behavior, which opens the door to greater risks."
"False news is fabricated with indifference to accuracy and often based on conspiracy theory," he added.
In a study recently published in peer-reviewed peer-reviewed journals, researchers simulated outbreaks of diseases such as norovirus, influenza, and monkeypox.
The researchers found that a ten percent reduction in the amount of harmful advice in circulation limits the exacerbation of the disease outbreak, and that preventing people from circulating these advice by 20 percent has the same positive effect.