Abstract

The epidemiologic crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has shown that international and regional health institutions are not prepared to identify, prevent, control, and treat a new respiratory disease with high potential for contagion, morbidity, and mortality. The lack of knowledge about Covid-19 mechanisms has led health authorities to adopt general measures to control its spread, like masks use, distance and social isolation. The nation’s unpreparedness to manage the pandemic has created uncertainties, fear, and panic in society. For this reason, people have started to engage and share more information on their social media. This facilitated the propagation of fake news, primarily about Covid-19’s dissemination, prevention, and treatment. The damage caused by fake news discredited science, decrease the acceptance of protective measures, and enhance the aggressiveness against health professionals, especially in nursing. The increase of aggressions associated with the fear of contamination, bad work conditions, and social isolation has caused a rise in the cases of emotional diseases among nursing professionals. This reality is worrying because these specialists are the ones in the front line of patients’ treatment. So, the bigger the number of nurses sick leave from work, the lower will be the quality of attendance in health unities. This reinforces the idea that fake news is a public health issue and must be watched and controlled with seriousness. Moreover, the nations need an action plan to provide updated scientific information in an easy understanding for society.