Health systems have long been built to fight biological epidemics. Yet the COVID-19 crisis brought attention to another, equally dangerous threat: the infodemic. First coined in 2003, the World Health Organization defined infodemics as “too much information, including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.” An infodemic today is not only about misinformation but also about over-information that overwhelms people’s ability to discern truth.
Like a virus, misinformation or an information overload has vectors, superspreaders, and vulnerable hosts. Its impact is measured not only in confusion but in behaviors that undermine public health, erode trust, and cost lives. Unlike viruses, however, misinformation (false or misleading information shared without intent to harm) and disinformation (false information deliberately created and shared to mislead) exploit distinctly human vulnerabilities: fear, uncertainty, and the longing for simple answers. And its consequences can be just as severe. The wrong information, delivered at the wrong time, can prove as deadly as the absence of medical care itself.
From the vantage point of both a physician and a health systems practitioner, the parallels are unmistakable. Just as epidemics overwhelm hospitals, infodemics overwhelm the ability of health systems to deliver timely, trusted, and evidence-based care.
Infodemics spread with the speed and reach of contagion. The vectors are familiar: social media, mass communication channels, and word of mouth. The superspreaders are those with large platforms who amplify unverified claims. The most vulnerable are people with low levels of health literacy, who lack the tools to assess the accuracy of what they consume.
Just as a biological epidemic can overwhelm hospitals, an infodemic overwhelms the ability of health systems to respond effectively. False claims about miracle cures, anti-vaccine movements, and conspiracy theories not only delay care but also fuel mistrust in science and public health institutions.
The science is clear: misinformation has measurable consequences. Studies show that communities exposed to vaccine myths during COVID-19 had significantly lower vaccination rates, leading to avoidable illness and death. Misinformation about diet fads and so-called natural remedies continues to delay patients from seeking timely, evidence-based treatment.
Every physician is taught the principles of medical ethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Health infodemics undermine each of these. They cause harm, restrict the ability of people to make informed choices, skew access to reliable knowledge, and deepen inequities.
Misinformation rarely remains abstract. A single misleading post can translate into very real harm: a patient who delays vaccination out of fear, a family persuaded by a false cure, or an entire community losing faith in its health system. Each statistic of avoidable illness or death represents lives altered and trust eroded.
When information fails, people suffer, not as a theoretical risk, but in the lived reality of hospital wards, intensive care units, and grieving households. And this is not a marginal issue. Studies estimate that anywhere between 0.2% and 28.8% of health-related content on social media may be misinformation. Even five to ten minutes of exposure to anti-vaccine content has been shown to reduce vaccination intent. In the UK and the USA, research found that vaccine misinformation lowered willingness to vaccinate by more than six percentage points.
Social media has magnified these risks during crises, fueling panic buying, unsafe self-medication, and a broader sense of confusion. The consequences are tangible: disease outbreaks linked to vaccine hesitancy, weakened public health responses due to false claims, and widespread erosion of trust in health authorities. Individuals may even take harmful actions in the belief that they are protecting themselves.
If epidemics demand vaccines to curb their spread, infodemics demand health literacy. Evidence shows that individuals with stronger health literacy experience better health outcomes, lower rates of hospitalization, and greater adherence to proven, evidence-based care. In other words, health literacy is not simply education; it is protection.
But health literacy cannot be left to individuals alone. It is a systemic responsibility. Health systems must communicate with clarity, compassion, and consistency. Public health messaging must be grounded in science but delivered in ways that people can understand, trust, and act upon.
Trust itself is the true currency of health systems. Where trust is strong, misinformation loses its power. Where it is weak, falsehoods thrive. Building trust requires more than providing facts; it demands transparency, responsiveness, and respect for the people that health systems serve.
Health infodemics are not merely communication challenges; they are public health emergencies. We must approach them with the same seriousness we bring to epidemics:
- Surveillance and Response: Track misinformation trends, identify sources, and respond rapidly with evidence-based corrections.
- Invest in Health Literacy: Strengthen educational initiatives that empower people to evaluate health information critically.
- Rebuild Trust: Make health systems more transparent, accessible, and accountable, so that people turn first to trusted voices rather than unverified sources.
Every life deserves not just access to care, but access to truth. In the age of infodemics, protecting health means protecting the integrity of information