ESTUDOS SOBRE MEDICAMENTOS PARA COVID-19: PARADIGMA DO ACESSO À INFORMAÇÃO E DA AUTOMEDICAÇÃO

Abstract

The emergence of the international public health emergency caused by the new coronavirus-2 led to the adoption of non-pharmacological preventive measures, such as social isolation, as a way to contain the spread. However, with the manifestation of the new disease and the confinement adopted, the population becomes driven by

curiosity to better understand the disease, choosing to carry out online searches on the subject, but the user finds information relevant to possible drugs thatare intertwined with false news, it becomes favorable to believe and practice irresponsible self-medication as a preventive form. The present work aims to analyze the effect of information about medicines with inconclusive scientific studies against Covid-19 found on the internet and the influence on self-medication during the first year of the new coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. The study is a literature review, in which scientific works contained in databases published between the year 2020 to 2021 were used. The data obtained show that the publications of possible medicines called promising, aroused curiosity in part of Brazilian society, in which an increase in searches for descriptors on research sites was noted, with the social networks Facebook and WhatsApp being pointed out as probable sources for disseminating erroneous information, in which the impact of sharing may have caused an increase in the sale of drugs under debate and consequently the rise of self-medication during the period. However, the collaboration of other factors such as the shaken psychological, diminished reliability in science and the fear for the uncertain future have contributed part of Brazilians in an unprecedented rush to drugstores and pharmacies in search of promising drugs.