The Global Antiscience Infodemic in Public Health: Complex Adaptive Systems and Syndemic Frameworks.

Abstract

This essay explores the global antiscience phenomenon, characterizing the rapid spread of misinformation as an "infodemic" linked to rising social and political opposition. To address this growing threat to global public health, it applies a transdisciplinary framework integrating complexity and syndemic theories to analyze the public health science enterprise. The evidence suggests that antiscience activism operates as a complex adaptive system, fueled by nonlinear social interactions and emotional narratives on internet-mediated platforms. Widespread breakdowns in bidirectional science-society communication and sociopolitical disparities interact synergistically to exacerbate adverse health outcomes, functioning as an information syndemic. To counteract these forces, public health strategies must move beyond the traditional "deficit model" of one-way messaging. Potential solutions include adopting targeted media campaigns, employing cognitive inoculation strategies, promoting widespread media literacy, and training a new generation of scientists to engage in two-way dialogues with the public. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. Published online ahead of print September 3, 2026:e1-e9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308672).