Misinformation is becoming an increasingly grave threat to IPC and in patient safety. There are many products, practices, and recommendations on the market that are not evidence-based, and some which are dangerous. In some publications, the science is good, but taken out of context which can manipulate public opinion. The current scientific publishing model and the rise of predatory journals complicate an already complex issue by making it difficult for people to access quality information.
There is a lot of interest in the fallout of fake news on the EU level, and it could be a possible goal of the group to try to build a future collaboration on this level. We are developing a protocol for the scientific community to analyse, categorize, and respond to fake news in an organized way. The first version of the protocol and reporting template have been done, but they still need to be tested and validated.