Tracking and contextualizing trending narratives across the nation's most pressing health topics

The Monitoring Lab is currently providing weekly insights and real-time data dashboards on the four topics below. Select your topic of interest and area of practice to access data and insights tailored to your work.

Weekly insights

United States

Vaccines: Public health

Vaccines: Health care

Opioids

Mental health

Reproductive health

Latin America & Caribbean

Vaccines

Europe

Vaccines

The insights on these pages are based on the monitoring of publicly available data. While some insights reference specific false claims and conspiracy theories, others are included to indicate gaps in knowledge, concerns, speculation, and other trending narratives related to the topic. Inclusion in reporting is based on reach and velocity of spread and on whether conversations may impact health behaviors and decisions.

Tracking all publicly available media data, our monitoring systems provide real-time intelligence on the health narratives trending across the country.

Dashboards are currently active across four health topics in the U.S., with additional countries and topics coming later this year.

Original reporting

Read in-depth reports from science journalists

The public has unanswered questions about bird flu. Some are asking AI.

Addressing these questions may allow health communicators to combat false information online.

Health care providers are prepared to talk to their patients about fall vaccines, but may underestimate COVID-19 risk

We surveyed 246 health care providers in August 2024, just before the FDA approved updated COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s what we learned.

After June peak, false claims about bird flu diminish but continue spreading

An overview of the misleading and false narratives about bird flu on social media between mid-May and mid-July 2024. Introduction

Online discussions about bird flu are recycling COVID-19 narratives

Reports of the H5N1 virus being detected in cow’s milk have kept the outbreak in the news and in social media conversations.