Beware false Information
Very helpful member
BEWARE FALSE INFORMATION
Unknowingly a lot of us are reading false crazy statements.
NO PROOF of some read here
Irelands CEO of Health is quoted by RTE Irelands National Televison below.
Health advice circulating on social media which have caused great concern.
Two such posts have been widely circulated by sports clubs and parents groups but these have been dismissed by the HSE's Chief Clinical Officer.
The first one wrongly says people should stop taking prescribed anti inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen and Difene.
Dr Colm Henry says that all infectious disease specialists are agreed that "the general consensus is that there is no data to support this contention at this stage and this has not gone beyond the stage of hypothesis".
In other words, the advice on this one from the most authoritative medical source here is, "this is a theory at the moment so don't stop taking the medication prescribed for you. If you are in any doubt call your GP or the HSE."
The other fake post stated there were four young people seriously ill in Cork University Hospital with Covid-19 after taking prescribed medicines.
This is simply not true and both the CUH and the HSE have denied it.
What is really worrying, however, is that the fake post not only says that people should stop taking these drugs but recommends they should - wait for it - do physiotherapy instead!
Doctors have been angered by the highly irresponsible and dangerous nature of this sort of messaging.
It is anybody's guess as to who is putting this misinformation and disinformation out and why.
At best it could be well meaning but dangerously misinformed, at worst it could be deliberately malicious and therefore all the more dangerous.
There are people all over the world who are online solely to spread hate, panic and fear, to interfere with elections and disrupt social harmony.
Social media provides them with the tools to do this and the cloak of anonymity to get away with it.
People should ask themselves a few simple questions: Who is telling me this? How do they know this? Why are they saying this?
There are credible news sources that people can get their information from. Whatsapp, Snapchat and Instagram are not among them.
In this climate, the words of the Defence Forces Chief of Staff bear repeating: "Get your facts from credible sources. Do not amplify fake news."