Doctors turn to social media to develop coronavirus treatments in real time

NEW YORK - The step-by-step protocols that doctors learn in medical school just weren't stopping the new coronavirus from killing people.

For Covid-19, a kind of medical hive mind is on the case. By the tens of thousands, doctors are joining specialised social media groups to develop answers in real time. One of them, a Facebook group called the PMG COVID19 Subgroup, has 30,000 members worldwide. In what may be the first pandemic of the social media age, doctors face a highly contagious virus that has already infected more than 400,000 people and killed more than 18,000 worldwide amid a shortage of needed supplies, including surgical masks and ventilators.

"We have already saved a large number of lives just by sharing information about social distancing, propagating stories from the front lines, helping with diagnosis and treatment and connecting physicians to other sources," Dr Mehta said. Thousands of doctors are tuning in, greeted by this warning:"We are going to try to bring you daily updates on Covid-19. There is a firehose of information and most of us are too busy to read and digest it all. Note: If you are listening to these more than a few days in the future, please beware that information may have changed and check subsequent episodes."

"That's how medicine works," Dr Sabry said."You learn from other people to not make the same mistakes so people won't die." Normal arbiters of medical information were of little help. The World Health Organisation issued conflicting reports. The US Food and Drug Administration said it had no evidence that certain pain medicines could worsen an infection, but pointed out that there are other options available. An investigation is underway.

"You have to understand that medicine isn't black or white," Dr Sabry said."It's a whole world of gray."

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