ArticleThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene2020
COVID-19-Related Infodemic and Its Impact on Public Health: A Global Social Media Analysis.
Article in The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 347 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
347 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Older adults and online health misinformation: a systematic literature review.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of stigma reduction interventions and outbreak response adaptations in infectious disease outbreaks: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Summarising data and factors associated with COVID-19 related conspiracy theories in the first year of the pandemic: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.BMC psychology · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of the international evolution of online mental health strategies and recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2022Pooled it
- Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: A systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Pooled it
- Health-Related Rumor Debunking on Sina Weibo in China (2009-2024): 15-Year Retrospective Infodemiology Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Article
- Factors Associated With Nurses' Self-Reported Susceptibility to Online Health Misinformation: Evidence From Greece.International nursing review · 2026Observational
- Exploring the drivers of hesitancy toward coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine among Syrian refugees residing in Mount Lebanon: A qualitative study.IJID regions · 2026Article
- Development and Preliminary Evaluation of the OCODES Digital Strategy in Response to Health Misinformation: Nominal Group Technique and Retrospective Usability Evaluation Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Implementation and User Evaluation of the SANGYAN Digital Health Platform to Enhance Knowledge About COVID-19 and Other Health Conditions: Quasi-Experimental Study.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Social Media Perspectives on a Future HIV Vaccine: Mixed Methods Analysis.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Older People's Perception of the Infodemic during the COVID-19 Pandemic in São Paulo, Brazil.Journal of caring sciences · 2026Article
- What can chatbot conversations reveal about vaccine concerns? An observational topic modelling study for public health infoveillance.BMJ digital health & AI · 2026Article
- Associations between social media exposure and COVID-19 preventive behaviors in post-zero-COVID China: a moderated mediation model of risk perception, fear, and mindfulness.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Have you done your research? Information sources and trust as predictors of vaccine intentions and uptake during Australia's COVID-19 vaccination rollout.Australian journal of psychology · 2026Article
- From emergence to amplification: an analysis of lifecycle models to address health mis-disinformation in the digital environment.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- From perception to action in public health emergencies: a three-gate integrated framework linking risk perception, information engagement, and protective responses.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Exploring the Relationship Between Conspiracy Theory Beliefs and Adherence to Government Guidelines During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Perceived Control and Trust in Social Media and Traditional Sources of Information.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
287 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Infodemics, often including rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories, have been common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Monitoring social media data has been identified as the best method for tracking rumors in real time and as a possible way to dispel misinformation and reduce stigma. However, the detection, assessment, and response to rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories in real time are a challenge. Therefore, we followed and examined COVID-19-related rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories circulating on online platforms, including fact-checking agency websites, Facebook, Twitter, and online newspapers, and their impacts on public health. Information was extracted between December 31, 2019 and April 5, 2020, and descriptively analyzed. We performed a content analysis of the news articles to compare and contrast data collected from other sources. We identified 2,311 reports of rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories in 25 languages from 87 countries. Claims were related to illness, transmission and mortality (24%), control measures (21%), treatment and cure (19%), cause of disease including the origin (15%), violence (1%), and miscellaneous (20%). Of the 2,276 reports for which text ratings were available, 1,856 claims were false (82%). Misinformation fueled by rumors, stigma, and conspiracy theories can have potentially serious implications on the individual and community if prioritized over evidence-based guidelines. Health agencies must track misinformation associated with the COVID-19 in real time, and engage local communities and government stakeholders to debunk misinformation.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.