What happens in Brazil? A pandemic of misinformation that culminates in an endless disease burden

Cardoso, Cristina Ribeiro de Barros; Fernandes, Ana Paula; Santos, Isabel Kinney Ferreira de Miranda

doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0713-2020

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These recommendations were followed in 2020 by similar ones in Brazil, Chile and other Latin American countries ( 17 ). The subsequent explosion of COVID-19 cases in Latin America points to the consequences of getting this wrong ( 18 ). In spite of widespread distribution of ivermectin, both by prescription and through black market sources, COVID-19 case numbers and deaths climbed during 2020, with ivermectin eventually being removed from Peru's clinical guidelines on October 12, 2020 ( 16 ).…”

Section: Ivermectinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In spite of widespread distribution of ivermectin, both by prescription and through black market sources, COVID-19 case numbers and deaths climbed during 2020, with ivermectin eventually being removed from Peru's clinical guidelines on October 12, 2020 ( 16 ). Many factors contributed to this, among which Brazilian researchers have included widespread misuse of ivermectin and official communications which were not based on scientific evidence ( 18 ). In spite of this, doctors reported being pressured to prescribe ivermectin, while researchers reported difficulties conducting rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) because patients did not want to take the chance of being assigned to a group that didn't receive ivermectin.…”

Section: Ivermectinmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ivermectin and the Integrity of Healthcare Evidence During COVID-19

O’Mathúna

2022

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by a lack of clear evidence to guide healthcare professionals, the public and policymakers. The resulting uncertainty, coupled with changing guidelines as additional evidence became available, added to the stress and anxiety reported by decision-makers. Research results are key to providing evidence to guide healthcare decisions. Important questions have arisen about whether various interventions are safe and effective. The evidence found guides those making treatment decisions, and influences those selecting interventions for further evaluation in research studies. As the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, the effectiveness and safety of many pharmaceuticals was queried. Ivermectin will be used to explore the ethics of how healthcare evidence must be critically appraised, even, or especially, during a pandemic. This drug is alleged to be effective in treating COVID-19, with various studies and systematic reviews finding supportive evidence. Some of these have now been linked to concerns about fraud or poor research reporting. This article will focus on the scientific literature and how apparently fraudulent studies were published and influenced treatment decisions, on-going research and public health guidelines. Research evidence is critical during emergencies like pandemics, but urgency should not overtake ethical responsibilities to critically appraise (or evaluate) studies as they become available. These responsibilities apply in various ways to editors, peer-reviewers, news media reporters, and those making treatment decisions, including clinicians, policymakers and the general public. While research article authors have the primary ethical responsibility to reject fraudulent or inaccurate claims, the readers of health research must carefully evaluate all publications. To detect and reject fraudulent healthcare claims, readers need critical appraisal skills that match their level of engagement with those articles. The core principles of critical appraisal will be described in the article, and how they can be adapted for different types of readers. Exemplar tools that develop critical appraisal skills will be noted, with reviews of ivermectin's efficacy explored as examples. As stakeholders in healthcare evidence are increasingly able to identify well-conducted and ethical research they will simultaneously be able to spot and reject fraudulent reports and prevent them from influencing healthcare decisions.

show abstract

Section: Ivermectinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ivermectinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ivermectin and the Integrity of Healthcare Evidence During COVID-19

O’Mathúna

2022

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The accumulated experience with these medications in other clinical scenarios has created a perception of similar safety profiles when prescribed for COVID-19. Although recent randomized trials have demonstrated the lack of benefit associated with HCQ and IVM, they remain frequently utilized in many areas where COVID-19 cases are still uncontrolled, such as Brazil and India 1, 7,8 . In this study, clinical outcomes associated with HCQ and/or IVM were evaluated in a series of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from a single institution in Brazil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outcomes associated with Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a single-center experience

Ferreira

Beranger

Sampaio

et al. 2021

Rev. Assoc. Med. Bras.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

OBJECTIVE: Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin are advocated as potential treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) despite the lack of supportive clinical evidence. In this study, outcomes associated with Hydroxychloroquine and/or Ivermectin were determined in a series of patients with confirmed COVID-19 from a single institution in Brazil. METHODS: Consecutive patients admitted between March and July 2020 were retrospectively analyzed and divided into four treatment categories: no treatment (Group 0), Ivermectin only (Group I), Hydroxychloroquine only (Group II), and Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin (Group III). Intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and death were compared between the Groups.RESULTS: A total of 230 patients were included, with the following treatment distribution: 35.2% (0), 9.1% (I), 48.3% (II), and 7.4% (III). Groups I, II, and III had the higher rates of Intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, or death (0: 23.5% versus I: 38.1% versus II: 37.8% versus III: 70.6%, p=0.002), and the greatest mortality was found in Group III (0 versus III: 13.6% versus 35.3%, p=0.03).In the multivariate analysis, Hydroxychloroquine remained significantly associated with death (OR 3.3, 95%CI 1.1-9.6, p=0.03). CONCLUSION:In a series of consecutive hospitalized patients with COVID-19, Ivermectin was not associated with improved outcomes and Hydroxychloroquine may have resulted in a harmful effect.

show abstract

“…18 It can be even more inflamed by the lack of coordination of the Brazilian government, causing social insecurity and instability. 19 Thus, it is clear that, after one year of the pandemic in Brazil, information characterized as disinformation, misinformation and malinformation continues to circulate through the Internet, mainly in the digital social media, reaching and impacting the population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Análise da informação sobre cloroquina e ivermectina nas mídias digitais Youtube e Instagram: relação entre Covid-19 e infodemia

Bravo¹,

Alberto²,

Nogueira³

et al. 2021

Rev Bras Farm Hosp Serv Saude

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objetivo: Analisar as informações sobre medicamentos nas mídias sociais brasileiras referente ao tratamento da Covid-19. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo transversal quali-quantitativo no qual analisou-se publicações sobre cloroquina e ivermectina, apontados como possíveis adjuvantes no tratamento da Covid-19, nas mídias sociais Instagram e Youtube. Foram selecionadas as 100 primeiras publicações a partir dos termos “cloroquina e “ivermectina” e hashtags “#cloroquina” e “#ivermectina”, de cada rede social. As análises foram divididas em características e engajamentos das publicações, análise de conteúdo e classificação do tipo de informação. Foi utilizada análise descritiva para representar valores absolutos e relativos, bem como a dispersão da amostra a partir do parâmetro de valores máximos e mínimos de cada publicação. Resultados: Demonstrou-se que o Instagram apresentou maior número de publicações totais referentes a cloroquina e que a mídia conteve (n=6) publicações realizadas por profissionais de saúde. O Youtube apresentou maior número de seguidores em perfil que publicou sobre os medicamentos e Covid-19 e obteve 21 publicações feitas por perfis verificados. No Instagram 53,8 % das publicações sobre cloroquina estavam relacionadas ao tratamento da Covid-19, bem como 74,4 % referentes a ivermectina relacionados ao tratamento precoce. No Youtube, 70,3 % das informações sobre ivermectina abordam sobre eficácia no tratamento farmacológico. Sobre o tipo da informação, para a ivermectina em ambas as mídias houve prevalência de má informação, enquanto para a cloroquina no Instagram 53,9 % foram classificadas como desinformação e no Youtube 73,4 % continham informações corretas. Conclusão: A regulação e controle das informações em saúde nas mídias sociais, bem como a amplificação e reorganização das atividades de assistência farmacêutica e gestão de serviços em saúde se fazem necessários para garantia da promoção em saúde e uso racional de medicamento.

show abstract

What happens in Brazil? A pandemic of misinformation that culminates in an endless disease burden

Cited by 11 publications

References 16 publications

Ivermectin and the Integrity of Healthcare Evidence During COVID-19

Ivermectin and the Integrity of Healthcare Evidence During COVID-19

Outcomes associated with Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a single-center experience

Análise da informação sobre cloroquina e ivermectina nas mídias digitais Youtube e Instagram: relação entre Covid-19 e infodemia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About