Toxic misinformation

Sir, – As an Irishman who lives in the US, I somehow assumed that absurd conspiracy theories as to the origins of the pandemic were mainly limited to the far-right on US shores. Conor Pope's article made me realise that ain't so ("I told the world about my vaccine cert. It wasn't long before the abuse started", Health + Family, January 11th).

Reading it, at first I was tempted to think that the torrent of abuse to which he was subjected came from outside Ireland, but the presence of phrases such as “good man” suggested otherwise. It seems the contemporary trend of toxic misinformation has well and truly transcended national boundaries. –Yours, etc,

STEVE BERKELEY,

San Jose,

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California.