<div>Title of the article: “<b>Monkey pox disease: An Instagram
analysis in disseminating accurate information ”</b></div><div>Abstract:</div><div>Introduction: In 2022, Monkey pox
disease has been 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 has become evident that people
consume most of the information through the giant 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.</div><div>Aims: To analyse the information that is available on Instagram
regarding Monkey Pox disease and to determine the accuracy of this
information.</div><div>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.</div><div>Results: 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%).</div><div>Discussion: On initial assessment only 369 posts were found to be
relevant. As witnessed in Covid 19, there is a epidemic of
misinformation when a global health emergency is concerned attributed to
vast access to social media platforms. In order to sustain this
dissemination of false information, such platforms should be regulated
and should operate under guidelines of WHO as far as health related
information is concerned.</div><div>Key-words: Monkey pox disease, Instagram, health concerns
Introduction:</div><div>Human Monkey pox is a zoonosis, declared in the post-eradication era of
small pox as the most significant Orthopoxvirus (1980s) [1].
Monkeypox is an enveloped brick shaped virus. It replicates in the
cytoplasm rather than the nucleus. [2]. This virus spreads via
secretions, contact with lesion exudate or crust material, and viral
shedding through feces.</div><div>Although other nations in Central and West Africa have also recorded
cases of monkeypox in people, the first human MPX case was reported in
1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the disease is
endemic [1]. The USA and Sudan both reported outbreaks of this
disease in the early 2000s with a recent outbreak in the USA due to
imported wild rodents from Africa [3]. Case fatality rates in
Democratic Republic of Congo were around 10% among non-vaccinated
individuals as compared to the smallpox vaccinated population [3].
In 2022, an outbreak was witnessed in the UK, originating from a British
resident who went to Nigeria [4]. Many more cases were reported
around the world from 13 countries that were previously not known to be
endemic to Monkeypox virus [4].</div><div>Internet was a crucial medium for gathering and spreading knowledge and
information about the current epidemic during the COVID19 Pandemic
[5]. Multiple platforms like Facebook, twitter, Instagram allow
sharing of thoughts, views and opinions of the mass via posts and
videos. However, errors in interpretation, misleading information, fake
news and such fallacies often circulate on social media which profoundly
affect public health communication. With the proclamation of monkeypox
as a public health emergency, we seek to analyze the information on
monkeypox available on Instagram using various hashtags to assess its
veracity using WHO recommendations as a reference.</div><div>Subjects and Methods:</div><div>A cross-sectional type of observational study was carried in June 2022,
over a period of 2</div><div>days. Top 90 posts from the top six
monkey pox related hashtags, namely #monkeypox,</div><div>#monkeypoxvirus, #monkeypoxoutbreak, #monkeypoxalypse,
#monkeypoxawareness, and</div><div>#monkeypoxalert, were included in the study. A proforma was made using
google forms and</div><div>the posts were screened on the basis of various pre-selected questions
by the authors. All data</div><div>was amassed on a single excel file for further analysis. The posts that
did not contain any</div><div>relevant information regarding monkeypox were excluded from the study.
The remaining</div><div>data was analyzed using the function tool on the basis of numerous
aspects like the type of</div><div>the post, whether it is an image or a video, number of likes, number of
comments, source of</div><div>the posts, whether the post contains information about the description
of the virus, prevention</div><div>of the disease, information about the treatment, information about
mortality and if the data</div><div>presented on the post is in accordance with the information available on
the WHO site.</div><div>Results:</div><div>A total of 522 posts were analysed for this study. Those that were
irrelevant to our topic including promotional posts by celebrities or
agencies and posts in languages other than English and Hindi were
excluded. Hence, we were left with 369 for our analysis. A total of six
hashtags were used for this study. On analysis #monkeypox had the
maximum number of posts linked to it, as shown in Table 1, followed by
#monkeypoxvirus. Table 2 shows the characteristics of posts analysed,
such as type of post, duration since it has been posted, number of likes
and comments it received and what kind of Instagram page posted it. Only
45 (11.65%) were posted or shared by doctors. The majority were shared
by news agencies 121 (32.79%) and health and wellness industries 84
(22.76%). Table 3 shows that most of the content 269 (72.90%) was
descriptive in nature. Figure 1 depicts the prevalence of genuine
information related to monkeypox disease as per World Health
Organisation guidelines is considerably high. It was noted that only
some posts contained information about the treatment of monkeypox 57
(15.45%) and the mortality of the disease 126 (34.15%). Misinformation
or bogus information was spread by 33 (8.94%). Around 102 (27.64%)
posts contained unverifiable information. There were certain posts of
funny or humorous nature 39 (10.57%).</div><div>Discussion:</div><div>We analysed approximately 522
Instagram posts related to Monkeypox. On initial assessment only 369
posts were found to be relevant. Most of the posts were picture based
rather than videos with majority of them being posted in the last six
months. A minority of the posts were from healthcare personnel, with the
rest being from news agencies or other sources. Most of the posts
contained description about the monkeypox, while some of them had
information about prevalence or prevention measures. Only a few posts
spoke about treatment or the mortality of this disease. Almost sixty
percent of the posts had information that was accurate.</div><div>Due to its vast accessibility, the internet has become the quickest and
easiest way to convey knowledge in the current era making it crucial to
take great care to prevent the spread of false information. Since May 6,
2022, monkeypox epidemic has been confirmed in the United Kingdom, and
as of May 21, 2022, cases were confirmed globally in countries where
monkeypox is not endemic [4]. As witnessed in COVID-19 pandemic, the
dangers of spreading incorrect information while managing disease
outbreaks might hasten the epidemic by influencing and splintering
social responses. [6]. The information spread by the media can alter
people’s behaviours with respect to public health interventions.
Understanding how people felt about the pandemic through social media
research on COVID-19 was helpful in determining how to manage similar
situations in the future. [7].</div><div>To control and prevent epidemics, monitoring social network platforms
such as Twitter, Instagram regarding information on the spread of
infectious agent is crucial [8] as forty-two percent of Americans
search for health-related information on such platforms and most of them
have reported that this has a significant influence on their behaviour
in seeking care [9]. A similar study on dermatological hashtags on
Instagram showed that board certified dermatologists produce only a
small proportion of the top dermatology related posts on Instagram with
the vast majority of them being from individuals without formal
dermatology training [9]. This is similar to the findings in our
study where only a few posts are made by healthcare professionals, which
may be the cause of the spreading misinformation, as was also obvious
from our data.</div><div>Another study done on assessment of media reportage on Monkey pox in the
Nigeria demonstrated that the media campaigns were unsuccessful in
raising awareness levels in the general population and it was discovered
that inappropriate information, inadequate media programmes, and a lack
of funding ultimately contributed to its inefficiency [10].</div><div>Spreading false information has frequently resulted in the failure to
stop the spread of infectious diseases throughout the history of social
media since the target population took fewer precautionary steps. This
was particularly well documented during the Ebola outbreak of West
Africa from 2003 to 2006 [11]. Low trust in institutions and more
belief in misinformation, following ineffective advice and ignoring
official healthcare recommendations often lead to pursuing self-care
without the advice of healthcare professionals and delay in seeking
medical help.</div><div>As is evident from the past situations concerning the COVID-19, Ebola
virus as well as the ever-growing of dermatology related posts,
web-based analysis of social media platforms immensely helps in not only
predicting but also helps in better management of the outbreaks. In
situations where the prevention strategies are aimed at modifying public
behavior, social media can be a powerful tool to help manage the disease
spread. The growing number of misinformation can be countered by
encouraging healthcare professionals and other health and wellness
agencies to create content with accurate and reliable information.
Web-based analysis aids in our ability to understand public sentiments
and determine which aspects of the general populace’s behavior should be
targeted in order to manage such outbreaks.</div><div>It has also helped researchers to investigate human related events
accurately and revolutionize infodemiology [8]. The various
statistics on social media like comments, likes, photos and videos allow
for predicting monkey pox morbidity in affected areas and can nudge
health care policymakers to implement preventive practices to the areas
of highest susceptibility. This highlights the importance of our study
given that monkeypox is now a topic of global concern.</div><div>References:</div><div>[1] Sklenovská N, Van Ranst M. Emergence of monkeypox as the most
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