Pandemic

Edgar Wallace’s story “The black grippe” from 1920 reflects the confusion still in place regarding the dreadful influenza epidemic of 1918. Despite a century of advances in microbiology and medicine, similar denial and misinformation occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our interconnected systems allowed real-time tracking of Covid-19’s spread and the development of vaccines, yet vaccine skepticism and Covid-19 denial persisted. The effective communication of scientific uncertainty is thus a recurring challenge for public health officials. We examine here communication strategies based on a recent publication called “The Uncertainty Handbook”.