Disinformation influencers in the spanish flu and covid-19 pandemics: a documentary study

Abstract

Introduction: As fast and destructive as the pandemic disease is the spread of untruths in pandemic scenarios, which led to many deaths. Therefore, counter-infodemic interventions are currently one of the biggest challenges for the health sector. Objective: To understand the convergence of disinformation on the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 and how fake news influencers act in the Brazilian health field. Method: this is a documentary study with a qualitative approach, carried out through the triangulation of data from different sources and in the periods of the Spanish Influenza (1918 to 1920) and COVID-19 (2020 to 2021). Result: It was observed that the pandemics were and continue to be fertile scenarios for the production and dissemination of disinformation influencers and that it is necessary to problematize the challenges of worker training in times of liquid modernity and in contexts of infodemics, since the professional discourses have been weakened bydisinformation. Conclusion: the study allowed us to understand the convergence of disinformation between the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 and the role of health education when facing the mass dissemination of fake news in the Brazilian health field.