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Monkey pox disease: An Instagram analysis in disseminating accurate information.
  • +3
  • Himanshi Bisht,
  • Apoorva Tripathi,
  • Shubham Thakor ,
  • Swasthi Shetty,
  • Shourya Meyur,
  • Goldy Raval
Himanshi Bisht
BJ Medical College

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Apoorva Tripathi
BJ Medical College
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Shubham Thakor
Smt NHL Municipal Medical College
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Swasthi Shetty
A J Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre
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Shourya Meyur
IPGMER
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Goldy Raval
AMA School of Medicine
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Abstract

In 2022, Monkey pox disease was declared as a Global Health Emergency. With the emergence of an epidemic such as this, it becomes imperative that accurate information is imparted to all the individuals. However, as seen in the case of Covid-19 pandemic, it is evident that people consume most of the information through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and others. With this, there is a possibility of an increase in dissemination of misinformation which was very well noted in case of Covid-19 Pandemic. Aims: To analyse the information that is available on Instagram regarding Monkey Pox disease and to determine its accuracy. Methodology: A cross-sectional, observational type of study where total of 522 posts were analysed over a period of two days was done. Top 90 posts from the top six monkey pox related hashtags were analysed on the basis of a proforma made of pre-selected questions via the platform google docs and accordingly the results were calculated. Results showed that, most of the posts are descriptive in nature, and only a few(11.65%) were posted by doctors. Most of them were posted by news or other agencies. Some of the posts were from unverified sources as well(27.65%). Discussion: As witnessed in Covid 19, there is prevalent misinformation when a global health emergency is concerned, attributed to vast access to social media platforms. In order to combat this dissemination of false information, such platforms should be regulated and should operate under guidelines of WHO.