Medical Mythbusters Malaysia recently debunked a viral message on contactless infrared thermometers causing permanent brain damage. The most effective solution is to provide precise, concise, and quick response to the misinformation.

“Do not use a contactless infrared thermometer at the forehead as it can cause your brain to get damaged permanently.” This was the gist of a seven-minute audio message that went viral on WhatsApp in Malaysia recently.

As a rule of thumb, a message that gets shared in more than two of your WhatsApp groups can be considered as a “viral” message. In the mysterious world of medical myths and misinformation, nothing is too bizarre. No matter how ridiculous or out of this world it may be, people will still “like comment and share” and believe in it 100 percent.

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The consequences

As part of public health measures to manage the spread of COVID-19, the Malaysian government has made it mandatory for every business premise to screen each individual entering their business. One of the methods is to screen for fever using contactless infrared thermometers. As a result of the viral message, people started insisting on getting their temperature taken from their hands as it was deemed safer than directing the infrared sensor at their forehead.

Herein, lies the problem. When an infection occurs, the physiology of the human body changes to combat the infection. Peripheral vasoconstriction occurs to conserve heat and increase the core body temperature. Vasoconstriction causes less blood supply to reach the peripheries, such as the hands and feet. Thus, less heat is transmitted through the peripheries. Based on this information, one would know that during fever, the temperature at the peripheries would not reflect the body’s core temperature.

The response

Medical Mythbusters Malaysia managed to counter this myth by writing a simple, easy to understand article on Facebook. At last count, the article had reached more than 100,000 Facebook users and shared more than 1000 times. The same article is also being shared on WhatsApp to reach as many people as possible.

First things first, a contactless infrared thermometer does not emit energy which can damage the brain. In fact, the infrared sensor in the thermometer detects the surface temperature of the forehead. Nothing is “shot” to the head. The fears of transmitted energy affecting the brain is baseless.

To understand how this audio message went ‘viral’, we need to consider three aspects:

Mode of communication: The medium used was WhatsApp, the most widely-used, internet-based messaging service in Malaysia, and perhaps the world. Smartphones are inexpensive, prices for internet packages are getting lower, and the WhatsApp service is free and easy to use. Sharing a message is just three steps away.

Public obsession with dignitary titles: In the audio recording, the speaker introduces himself as a professor, medical doctor, and the president of a renowned South East Asia NGO. It doesn’t matter if the titles are fake. No one bothered to check on his credentials. For the general public, what matters is that he sounded confident.

The element of religion: The target group for this medical myth was the Muslim communities. Despite originating from conspiracy theories sites based in the United States, the message included elements of religion to lend it some local flavour.

Battling medical misinformation is a never-ending struggle. There will always be another myth brewing around the corner. The only way forward is to provide precise, concise, and quick responses to each misinformation.

(The author is the President and Co-founder of Medical Mythbusters Malaysia as well as a member of the FirstCheck.)