Infodemics: A new challenge for public health

Sylvie C Briand; Matteo Cinelli; Tim Nguyen; Rosamund Lewis; Dimitri Prybylski; Carlo M Valensise; Vittoria Colizza; Alberto Eugenio Tozzi; Nicola Perra; Andrea Baronchelli; Michele Tizzoni; Fabiana Zollo; Antonio Scala; Tina Purnat; Christine Czerniak; Adam J Kucharski; Akhona Tshangela; Lei Zhou; Walter Quattrociocchi

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.031

Infodemics: A new challenge for public health

Cell. 2021 Dec 9;184(25):6010-6014. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.031.

Authors

Sylvie C Briand¹, Matteo Cinelli², Tim Nguyen³, Rosamund Lewis⁴, Dimitri Prybylski⁵, Carlo M Valensise⁶, Vittoria Colizza⁷, Alberto Eugenio Tozzi⁸, Nicola Perra⁹, Andrea Baronchelli¹⁰, Michele Tizzoni¹¹, Fabiana Zollo², Antonio Scala¹², Tina Purnat³, Christine Czerniak¹, Adam J Kucharski¹³, Akhona Tshangela¹⁴, Lei Zhou¹⁵, Walter Quattrociocchi¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, 30172 Venice, Italy.
³ Impact Events Preparedness Unit, Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Infodemic Management Group. Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Global Immunization Division, Center for Global Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30030, USA.
⁶ Enrico Fermi Research Center, Piazza del Viminale, 1 - 00184, Roma, Italy.
⁷ INSERM, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, IPLESP, Paris, France.
⁸ Multifactorial and Complex Diseases research Area, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
⁹ Networks and Urban Systems Centre, University of Greenwich, London, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Mathematics, City University of London & The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK.
¹¹ ISI Foundation, 10126, Turin, Italy.
¹² Applico Lab, CNR-ISC, Roma, Italy; Big Data in Health Society, Roma, Italy.
¹³ Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
¹⁴ Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁵ Public Health Emergency Center, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
¹⁶ Department of Computer Science, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: walter.quattrociocchi@uniroma1.it.

Abstract

The COVID-19 information epidemic, or "infodemic," demonstrates how unlimited access to information may confuse and influence behaviors during a health emergency. However, the study of infodemics is relatively new, and little is known about their relationship with epidemics management. Here, we discuss unresolved issues and propose research directions to enhance preparedness for future health crises.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / psychology*
Epidemics / psychology
Humans
Infodemic*
Information Dissemination / ethics*
Information Dissemination / methods
Public Health
Research / trends
SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding