Fake news e vacinas na era “pós-verdade”

Abstract

The production and dissemination of fake news in the health field has grown and compromised the ability of public officials and citizens to mitigate the effects they could cause. With a mixed approach, this paper analyzes the texts classified as fake news about vaccination available through the portal of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, called “Saúde sem Fake News”. From August 24, 2018 to September 3, 2019, eleven vaccination news, classified as fake on the portal, were selected and analyzed: four focus on adverse effects of vaccines, two deal with the HPV vaccine and the others address to the prevention of yellow fever, measles and cancer, as well as affecting the production of vaccines, the effectiveness of vaccination strategies, adverse events after vaccination, among other subjects. These fake news topics are the result of widespread vaccination hesitation at different times in the sanitary history of Brazil and the world. The impact of this goes beyond individual health into the epidemiological profile of an entire society. Considering the importance of this theme in the field of health prevention, it is urgent that we be able to establish regulatory mechanisms on the production and sharing of fake news.