Through social distancing and a lot of time spent at home, I have a lot more time for introspection, research, and reading that I don't normally have. I began rereading Stellar Medicine: A Journey Through the Universe of Women's Health written by Dr. Saralyn Mark. So far, it is a great read (I highly recommend it to any interested readers). One of the first topics addressed in this book is the pandemic of misinformation. In this chapter, Dr. Mark addresses some of the public health scares from 9/11 to the anthrax and bird flu scares. The common thread among these scares was the public's misinformation detracting from a tangible solution to the crisis. The example that I found most interesting was about the bird flu. During this time, people started excessively purchasing the antiviral drug Tamiflu which unfairly took away resources from people with the seasonal flu. One of the quotes that I found to resonate most with our modern situation was "this message [that sustained transmission of bird flu was unlikely] was often overlooked. Meanwhile, the country was terrified for a time, and again taxed the medical system needlessly" (Mark 22). This idea that misinformation drives us further away from a solution needs to be carefully analyzed especially now. Many people (myself included) are being driven to take extreme actions based on flawed understandings of the virus. So this article is dedicated to clearing up (to whatever extent and reach I have) this "pandemic of misinformation" regarding COVID-19.
