<p>With cat photos and sometimes scathing irony, Mathieu Rebeaud, a Swiss-based researcher in biochemistry, has nearly tripled his Twitter following since the coronavirus pandemic began.</p>.<p>With 14,000 followers, he posts almost daily, giving explanations on the latest scientific research and, in particular, aims to fight misinformation that spreads as fast as the virus itself.</p>.<p>He is among a growing number of doctors, academics and institutions who in recent weeks have adapted and amplified their scientific messaging in hopes of countering what has been termed an infodemic -- a deluge of information, including widespread false claims, which experts say can pose a serious threat to public health.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-in-india-news-live-updates-total-cases-deaths-flights-trains-today-schedule-mumbai-delhi-kolkata-bengaluru-maharashtra-gujarat-west-bengal-tamil-nadu-covid-19-tracker-today-worldometer-update-lockdown-4-latest-news-838583.html" target="_top"><strong>Follow live updates on coronavirus here</strong></a></p>.<p>To cut through the noise however, it is imperative to work quickly and maximise social media engagement to get simple prevention messages across to the public, according to researchers and specialists.</p>.<p>"In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories provide complete, simple, seemingly rationalistic and watertight explanations," Kinga Polynczuk-Alenius, a University of Helsinki researcher, said.</p>.<p>"This is in stark contrast to the available scientific knowledge -- complex, fragmented, changeable and contested -- and to the actions of political decision-makers and state authorities, which appear haphazard and self-contradictory," she added.</p>.<p>In February, British medical journal The Lancet warned that "the rapid dissemination of trustworthy information" was needed most during a period of uncertainty.</p>.<p>This includes transparent identification of cases, data sharing and unhampered communication, as well as peer-reviewed research, it said.</p>.<p>Rigorous and time-heavy scientific studies and publications, however, compete with the immediacy of social media and a public often demanding firm and definitive answers.</p>.<p>"How do we communicate in this context of radical uncertainty?" asked Mikael Chambru, a scientific communication specialist at France's University of Grenoble Alpes.</p>.<p>Jean-Francois Chambon, a doctor and director of communications at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said he had no choice but to forcefully deny a widely shared video in March accusing the institution of having "created" the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>"We must go to any lengths" to debunk the lies, he said.</p>.<p>The institute created a web page dedicated to educating the public about the virus, Chambon said.</p>.<p>"We realised that there was a lot of 'fake news' on the subject," he added.</p>.<p>The Pasteur Institute currently has a combined 16,000 new subscribers a month on its social media networks, he said, compared with 4,000 before the pandemic.</p>.<p>Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, chairman of the ethics committee at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, agreed that the scientific community must counterattack in such situations.</p>.<p>"We don't have a choice," he told AFP.</p>.<p>Earlier this month, the Red Cross launched what it said was the first global network of social media influencers to battle misinformation and spread lifesaving content about the pandemic.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has entered into an agreement with Facebook to transmit information directly to users via personal message services.</p>.<p>But it is often individual doctors and researchers who can have a strong influence online.</p>.<p>Dutch microbiologist Elisabeth Bik tweeted a one-sentence summary of a vast study on the effects of antiviral drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine last week, just hours after its release.</p>.<p>Her tweet -- "Each drug combination was associated with *lower* survival and more ventricular arrhythmias." -- sparked a lively and wide-ranging debate online.</p>.<p>Scientists involved in the debate want to forge a "culture of science" among the public to help them understand what they hear and read, Chambru said.</p>.<p>Rather than simply imposing the view of a leading authority without any explanation, they aim to help people understand how science works including the need for studies to abide by rules and standards, he added.</p>.<p>"The position of authority would be extremely unpopular with the public," Ganascia agreed.</p>.<p>Rebeaud, the biochemistry researcher popular on Twitter, said he was much less present on social media before the pandemic but had felt drawn to defend science.</p>.<p>The battle however feels unbalanced, said the researcher, who works at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.</p>.<p>"Dismantling nonsense takes 10 times more energy than spreading it," he said, agreeing with the findings of a 2018 study by the magazine Science which noted that "lies spread faster than the truth".</p>.<p>Some scientists have called for a review of science education so that the public is less permeable to false information.</p>.<p>Information campaigns "cannot be perceived as an exclusive antidote to fight fake news," Italian communications researcher Mafalda Sandrini said.</p>
<p>With cat photos and sometimes scathing irony, Mathieu Rebeaud, a Swiss-based researcher in biochemistry, has nearly tripled his Twitter following since the coronavirus pandemic began.</p>.<p>With 14,000 followers, he posts almost daily, giving explanations on the latest scientific research and, in particular, aims to fight misinformation that spreads as fast as the virus itself.</p>.<p>He is among a growing number of doctors, academics and institutions who in recent weeks have adapted and amplified their scientific messaging in hopes of countering what has been termed an infodemic -- a deluge of information, including widespread false claims, which experts say can pose a serious threat to public health.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-in-india-news-live-updates-total-cases-deaths-flights-trains-today-schedule-mumbai-delhi-kolkata-bengaluru-maharashtra-gujarat-west-bengal-tamil-nadu-covid-19-tracker-today-worldometer-update-lockdown-4-latest-news-838583.html" target="_top"><strong>Follow live updates on coronavirus here</strong></a></p>.<p>To cut through the noise however, it is imperative to work quickly and maximise social media engagement to get simple prevention messages across to the public, according to researchers and specialists.</p>.<p>"In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories provide complete, simple, seemingly rationalistic and watertight explanations," Kinga Polynczuk-Alenius, a University of Helsinki researcher, said.</p>.<p>"This is in stark contrast to the available scientific knowledge -- complex, fragmented, changeable and contested -- and to the actions of political decision-makers and state authorities, which appear haphazard and self-contradictory," she added.</p>.<p>In February, British medical journal The Lancet warned that "the rapid dissemination of trustworthy information" was needed most during a period of uncertainty.</p>.<p>This includes transparent identification of cases, data sharing and unhampered communication, as well as peer-reviewed research, it said.</p>.<p>Rigorous and time-heavy scientific studies and publications, however, compete with the immediacy of social media and a public often demanding firm and definitive answers.</p>.<p>"How do we communicate in this context of radical uncertainty?" asked Mikael Chambru, a scientific communication specialist at France's University of Grenoble Alpes.</p>.<p>Jean-Francois Chambon, a doctor and director of communications at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said he had no choice but to forcefully deny a widely shared video in March accusing the institution of having "created" the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>"We must go to any lengths" to debunk the lies, he said.</p>.<p>The institute created a web page dedicated to educating the public about the virus, Chambon said.</p>.<p>"We realised that there was a lot of 'fake news' on the subject," he added.</p>.<p>The Pasteur Institute currently has a combined 16,000 new subscribers a month on its social media networks, he said, compared with 4,000 before the pandemic.</p>.<p>Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, chairman of the ethics committee at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, agreed that the scientific community must counterattack in such situations.</p>.<p>"We don't have a choice," he told AFP.</p>.<p>Earlier this month, the Red Cross launched what it said was the first global network of social media influencers to battle misinformation and spread lifesaving content about the pandemic.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has entered into an agreement with Facebook to transmit information directly to users via personal message services.</p>.<p>But it is often individual doctors and researchers who can have a strong influence online.</p>.<p>Dutch microbiologist Elisabeth Bik tweeted a one-sentence summary of a vast study on the effects of antiviral drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine last week, just hours after its release.</p>.<p>Her tweet -- "Each drug combination was associated with *lower* survival and more ventricular arrhythmias." -- sparked a lively and wide-ranging debate online.</p>.<p>Scientists involved in the debate want to forge a "culture of science" among the public to help them understand what they hear and read, Chambru said.</p>.<p>Rather than simply imposing the view of a leading authority without any explanation, they aim to help people understand how science works including the need for studies to abide by rules and standards, he added.</p>.<p>"The position of authority would be extremely unpopular with the public," Ganascia agreed.</p>.<p>Rebeaud, the biochemistry researcher popular on Twitter, said he was much less present on social media before the pandemic but had felt drawn to defend science.</p>.<p>The battle however feels unbalanced, said the researcher, who works at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.</p>.<p>"Dismantling nonsense takes 10 times more energy than spreading it," he said, agreeing with the findings of a 2018 study by the magazine Science which noted that "lies spread faster than the truth".</p>.<p>Some scientists have called for a review of science education so that the public is less permeable to false information.</p>.<p>Information campaigns "cannot be perceived as an exclusive antidote to fight fake news," Italian communications researcher Mafalda Sandrini said.</p>