No abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic has spawned an "infodemic," with excessive and unfounded information that hinders an appropriate public health response. This perspective describes a selection of COVID-19 fake news that originated in Peru and the government's response to this information. Unlike other countries, Peru was relatively successful in controlling the infodemic possibly because of the implementation of prison sentences for persons who created and shared fake news. We believe that similar actions by other countries in collaboration with social media companies may offer a solution to the infodemic problem. due to the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19.

The media play an important role in the dissemination of information on the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, it is important to measure whether the population is receiving information that calms it down, as well as whether such news are in accordance with the magnitude of the issue. Objective: To validate a questionnaire that measures the perception of the media and their informative role in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A validation process for a questionnaire that measures the perception of the magnitude of this issue and whether it generates fear was carried out. The validation was performed by means of a literature search. Moreover, a first version of the scale was developed, which was assessed by 30 experts (physicians, epidemiologists, among others). After this, an exploratory factor analysis and descriptive statistics were performed. Results: Our scale had 13 initial items; however, one of them was eliminated because of its unsatisfactory level of statistical adequacy. Exploratory factorial analysis and parallel analysis suggested three factors. Results of the KMO coefficient (0.833) and the Bartlett's test of sphericity (4998.5; gl = 66; p<0.001) were acceptable and significant, which justify the exploratory factorial analysis. The correlation between the factors was >0.4 and robust analyses revealed a satisfactory factorial structure (X2=88.0; p= 0.001; IFC=0.968; GFI=0.992; TLI=0.937; RMSEA=0.123). In the descriptive statistics of the 12 final items, moderate and significant correlations between the items were reported (> 0.5). Conclusion: We generate a scale to validate the perception of how people receive information from the media. Thus, this scale can be used to measure the informative role of the media regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and may even serve for other similar public health emergencies.

RESUMENObjetivos. Evaluar la frecuencia de publicación y sus factores asociados en docentes universitarios de investigación científica de escuelas de Medicina del Perú. Materiales y métodos. Estudio de corte transversal analítico. Se incluyó a todos los docentes universitarios de los cursos de investigación de las 32 escuelas de medicina del Perú en el año 2011. La búsqueda de publicaciones se realizó mediante Google Scholar, SCOPUS y Medline. Se calculó las razones de prevalencias crudas y ajustadas (RPa) con intervalos de confianza al 95% mediante regresión de Poisson simple y múltiple con varianza robusta. Resultados. De los 201 docentes universitarios, 43,8% nunca ha publicado un artículo en una revista, 26,9% publicó un artículo original en una revista indizada en Medline y 16,4% lo hizo en los últimos dos años. Solo 3,0% han sido autores corresponsales en alguna revista indizada no peruana. Los factores asociados con haber publicado un artículo original en Medline durante los dos últimos años es ser menor de 40 años de edad (RPa: 2,97; IC 95%:1,21-7,32), ser profesor en una universidad donde se requiere tesis obligatoria para graduarse (RPa: 8,84; IC 95%: 2,60-30,12) y trabajar para una universidad altamente productiva (RPa: 3,24; IC 95%: 1,03-10,20). Conclusiones. La frecuencia de publicación de los docentes en investigación de las escuelas de medicina del Perú es baja. Los docentes universitarios jóvenes y los que trabajan para universidades científicamente productivas presentaron más probabilidades de publicar en una revista indizada en Medline. ABSTRACT Objectives.To evaluate the frequency of publication and its associated factors by professors of scientific research in medical schools in Peru. Materials and methods. This was a cross-sectional study. We included all teachers of research courses from the 32 medical schools in Peru in 2011. The publication search was conducted using Google Scholar, Scopus and Medline. Both the crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were calculated with confidence intervals at 95% using simple and multiple Poisson regression with robust variance. Results. Of the 201 university teachers, 43.8% had never published an article in a journal, 26.9% had an original article published in a journal indexed in Medline and 16.4% did so in the past two years. Only 3% had been corresponding authors in non-Peruvian, indexed journals Factors associated with having an original article published in Medline in the past two years were: being under 40 years of age (aPR 2.97, 95% CI: 1.21-7.32), being a professor at a university where a final thesis is required for graduation (aPR 8.84, 95% CI: 2.60-30.12) and working for a highly productive university (aPR 3.24, 95% CI: 1.03-10.20). Conclusions. The frequency of publication of research faculty in medical schools in Peru is low. Young university teachers and those working at scientifically productive universities were more likely to publish in an indexed journal.

Background The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru has led to people seeking alternative treatments as preventives and treatment options such as medicinal plants. This study aimed to assess factors associated with the use of medicinal plants as preventive or treatment of respiratory symptom related to COVID-19 during the pandemic in Cusco, Peru. Method A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted on general public (20- to 70-year-old) from August 31 to September 20, 2020. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire via Google Forms, it consisted of an 11-item questionnaire that was developed and validated by expert judgment using Aiken’s V (Aiken’s V > 0.9). Both descriptive statistics and bivariate followed by multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess factors associated with the use of medicinal plants for COVID-19 prevention and respiratory symptom treatment during the pandemic. Prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI), and a P-value of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. Results A total of 1,747 respondents participated in the study, 80.2% reported that they used medicinal plants as preventives, while 71% reported that they used them to treat respiratory symptoms. At least, 24% of respondents used medicinal plants when presenting with two or more respiratory symptoms, while at least 11% used plants for malaise. For treatment or prevention, the multivariate analysis showed that most respondents used eucalyptus (p < 0.001 for both), ginger (p < 0.022 for both), spiked pepper (p < 0.003 for both), garlic (p = 0.023 for prevention), and chamomile (p = 0.011 for treatment). The respondents with COVID-19 (p < 0.001), at older ages (p = 0.046), and with a family member or friend who had COVID-19 (p < 0.001) used more plants for prevention. However, the respondents with technical or higher education used less plants for treatment (p < 0.001). Conclusion There was a significant use of medicinal plants for both prevention and treatment, which was associated with several population characteristics and whether respondents had COVID-19.