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Contagious diseases and hollywood: Myths, facts and hype

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 101; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ijid.2020.11.052

1878-3511

A. Duse,

COVID-19 epidemiological studies

Background: Hollywood blockbusters have drawn on infectious diseases to create the outbreak-doomsday-disaster movie genre in which highly pathogenic and easily transmissible microbes threaten, via pandemic spread, the very existence of human populations. The plots for such movies are a composite of facts, dramatized and overly exaggerated clinical manifestations, and fiction all of which play up to the public's fear of microbial agents particularly in the light of bioterrorist attacks. Unable to differentiate facts from fiction the average movie-goer is left with a distorted understanding of infectious disease dynamics. These misinterpretations become particularly problematic during outbreak responses when incorrect messages regarding microbial etiology (e.g. assertions of laboratory-created agents), microbial transmission, microbial behavior and outbreak response strategies flood social media platforms. Methods and materials: Through the analysis of the scientific premises underpinning the plots of movies such as "Outbreak", "Contagion", and "The Andromeda Strain" the aim of this presentation is to compare and contrast these premises to the latest scientific knowledge on infectious agents such as Ebolavirus and the 'extinct' Variola Major virus. Microbial evolution, viral reservoirs and their distribution, pathogenicity, transmission, pandemic potential, possibilities of bio-weaponization, and prevention strategies will be discussed. Results: Incorrect messages (that, in some instances, are intentionally posted on social media platforms) have been shown to be deleterious to the public's trust of outbreak response teams and interventions such as vaccination. This is confirmed by analyzing, through scrutiny of social media posts, the impact of distorted messaging during the 2014–15 West African and the current DRC Ebolavirus outbreaks. Conclusion: Hollywood does what it does best; entertain through enthralling, persuading, thrilling and emotionally trapping movie-goers with terrifying outbreak scenarios. And, it will continue to do so. Being aware of the power of social media in health misinformation and mitigating such misinformation through simple, transparent and scientifically-verifiable information will go a long way in assisting public education and social mobilization efforts.