Scientists and journalists collaborate in Meedan's Expert Database
Today is an exciting day because we get to share highlights from a brand new COVID-19 project, from Meedan's Digital Health Lab. Alongside your weekly dose of misinformation news, in the coming issues of this newsletter you'll find a brand new section hosted by award-winning journalist and medical doctor, Dr. Seema Yasmin.
There is a massive misinfodemic surrounding COVID-19. The Digital Health Lab is working with a team of scientists to answer the most important and complex pandemic questions, and deliver those expert responses to our partners (aka: you). Each week, Dr. Yasmin will highlight the most important questions being answered by our experts, all right here in this newsletter! So enjoy, and don't forget to share the Checklist with your friends, colleagues and family so everyone can tune into global misinformation news!
Top COVID-19 questions
Journalist and medical doctor, Dr. Seema Yasmin shares weekly highlights from Meedan's COVID-19 Expert Database.
What do we know about COVID-19's mutation capacity?
From the COVID-19 Expert Database: The ability of COVID-19 to mutate is being studied around the world. While all viruses eventually mutate, and COVID-19 changes all the time, and has in fact already mutated a few times since its discovery last year, it does not appear that COVID-19 is mutating in a way that makes it more lethal, or more contagious to people. While the virus creates mutations every time it infects individual cells, most of these changes don't help the virus in any way, so it rejects them, and continues on making copies of itself. It should be noted that in a recent pre-print study that reported on COVID-19's potential ability to mutate, there was no evidence that patients with the alleged mutated strain of the virus were more likely to be hospitalized.
Seema says: "Reporting based on non-peer reviewed "pre-prints" of scientific papers have contributed to the perception that we are dealing with multiple "mutant" strains of SARS-CoV-2 and that some are more contagious than others. However, these studies lack sufficient evidence to make these claims. Currently, coronavirus virologists believe there is one circulating strain of SARS-CoV-2, and that while the virus does makes genetic errors as it replicates inside humans, these minor mutations have not yet generated new strains (despite news reports claiming at least half a dozen strains are circulating). "Mutant virus" headlines can generate anxiety and fear among a public already processing overwhelming amounts of information. Misleading reporting based on non-peer reviewed studies contributes to distrust in scientists and the scientific process when data, that has not been properly assessed by experts, is publicly dissected and the flaws examined in the public arena."
What does it mean for a study to be pre-print?
From the COVID-19 Expert Database: Pre-print studies are studies that have been completed, but they haven't gone through the peer-review process that most scientific journals require. Pre-prints provide new data and information, which is important in a pandemic. However, information like how the a pre-print was conducted, its sample sizes, assumptions, and calculations have not (yet) been scrutinized by the journal's reviewers and editors—hence the term "pre-print". Websites that publish pre-print articles suggest that these articles should not be reported in the news, or used to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior. Until the studies are scrutinized by reviewers, they should not be assumed to be factually correct or inform any actions.
Seema says: "With the demand for scientific speed and a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, a preproderance of non-peer reviewed scientific papers have become available to the public—before expert review and analysis. It is important to help the public understand the different levels of scientific publishing and to make clear that pre-prints have not yet undergone the level of review required for publication. Pre-prints may contain errors and methodological flaws. Unfortunately, data from pre-prints is not always detailed as such in news reports, and this can lead to coverage that is misleading and inaccurate."
Will transmission of COVID-19 slow down in the summer?
From the COVID-19 Expert Database: Some viruses, like the common cold and flu, see reduced transmission in the summer months, but based on current evidence, scientists have been unable to determine whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease in the warmer summer months.
Seema says: "It's important to counter misinformation about viral transmission in warmer months as the northern hemisphere transitions from spring to summer. Complacency based on beliefs that a respiratory virus won't spread in the summer could impact behaviors such as physical distancing and wearing of masks. Early in the pandemic, the U.S. president suggested the virus would "wash away" by summer, suggesting to some that containment measures might be eased. However, SARS-CoV-2 spread successfully in Singapore amid high humidity and temperatures in the mid-80s Fahrenheit. It is unknown how viral transmission will be affected by temperature, and since the virus is new, its seasonality is not yet established or understood."
Are these highlights helpful to your fact-checking, reporting or even your general understanding of the science surrounding the pandemic? If so, get in touch with us at health@meedan.com to learn more about how you can get our full database of answers from experts. And now, back to regularly scheduled programming—you didn't think we were going to leave you hanging on the week's top stories, did you?
This week's news
Virus Experts Aren’t Getting the Message Out (The Atlantic)
In this piece by Renee DiResta, she argues that health experts are not reaching the public in places where the public actually consumes information. Press releases and fact-sheets no longer cut it when social media users are pushing out information about the pandemic at warp speeds, and normalizing a rapid consumption of information.
"All too often, the people responsible for protecting the public do not appear to understand how information moves in the internet era. Meanwhile, people who best understand what content is likely to go viral are using that knowledge to mislead." - The Atlantic
Going viral: how to boost the spread of coronavirus science on social media (Nature)
In this column in Nature, scientist Samantha Yammine outlines how scientists can meet people where they're actually consuming information and content. Social media can scale conversations, broadcast high-quality messaging and amplify accessible information about a range of science news. She suggests avoiding 'hot takes,' creating audience-specific content and avoiding clickbait.
"As the pandemic continues to evolve and we look towards long-term management strategies, it’s important that we continue these conversations — and make sure science is a part of them. But, as science-communication experts have been saying for years, simply spewing scientific facts from a soapbox isn’t enough: research shows that it’s more important to start a dialogue." - Nature
What’s new at Meedan
Highlights from our team
One of our veteran journalists wrote about World Press Freedom Day
We learned a lot about design collaboration in Reeboot's Masterclass
We introduced Check Bot: a customizable COVID-19 WhatsApp bot for fact-checkers