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For decades, people struggling with illnesses of all kinds have sought help in online support groups. This year, such groups have been in high demand for COVID-19 patients, who often must recover in isolation.

But the fear and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus have made online groups targets for the spread of false information. And to help fellow patients, some of these groups are making it a mission to stamp out misinformation.

Shortly after Matthew Long-Middleton got sick on March 12, he joined a COVID-19 support group run by an organization called Body Politic on the messaging platform Slack.

鈥淚 had no idea where this road leads, and so I was looking for support and other theories and some places where people were going through a similar thing, including the uncertainty,鈥� said Long-Middleton, 36, an avid cyclist who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. His illness started with chest discomfort, then muscle weakness, high fever, loss of appetite and digestive problems. In addition to all the physical symptoms, the mystery weighed on him, making him feel like he and other patients 鈥渉ave to figure this out for ourselves.鈥�

But with the support came misinformation. Group members reported taking massive amounts of vitamins 鈥� including vitamin D, which can be harmful in excess 鈥� or trying other home remedies not backed by science.

Experts warned that such false or unverified information spread on online support groups can not only mislead patients, but also potentially undermine trust in science and medicine in general.

鈥淓ven if we鈥檙e not actively seeking information, we encounter these kinds of messages on social media, and because of this repeated exposure, there鈥檚 more likelihood that it鈥檚 going to seep into our thinking and perhaps even change the way that we view certain issues, even if there鈥檚 no real merit or credibility,鈥� said a health communication researcher at Northeastern University.

In an effort to help fellow COVID-19 sufferers, some patients, like Vanessa Cruz, spend most of their days fact-checking their online support groups.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really become like a second family to me, and being able to help everybody is a positive thing that comes out of all this negativity we鈥檙e experiencing right now,鈥� Cruz said.

Cruz, a 43-year-old mother of two, moderates the Facebook COVID-19 support group called 鈥渉ave it/had it鈥� from her home in the Chicago suburbs. She鈥檚 also a 鈥渓ong-hauler鈥� who has been dealing with COVID-19 symptoms, including fatigue, fever and confusion, since March.

The worldwide group has more than 30,000 members and has recently been buzzing with reports from India about treating COVID-19 with a common tapeworm medication (it鈥檚聽and there鈥檚 little evidence it works) 鈥� as well as speculation about President Donald Trump鈥檚 recent diagnosis.

Other troubling posts include people pushing hydroxychloroquine, which has not been proved effective in treating COVID-19, and sharing the viral video 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Frontline Doctors,鈥� which promotes other unproven treatments and spreads conspiracy theories.

Cruz said supporting fellow patients can be a tricky balance of getting the facts right but also giving people who are scared the chance to be heard.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like you really don鈥檛 know what to question, what to ask for, how to reach for help,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淚nstead of doing that, they just write up their story, basically, and they share it with everybody.鈥�

To keep the group evidence-based, it has built up a 17-person fact-checking team, which includes two nurses and a biologist. Someone on the team reviews every post that goes up.

However, many online COVID-19 groups don鈥檛 have the resources or strategy to address misinformation.

Mel Montano, a 32-year-old writing instructor who lives in New York and has also felt sick since March, said she left a large Facebook support group because she was frustrated by the conspiracy theories that filled its posts.

鈥淎ll of these conflicting theories completely took away from the focal point of it,鈥� Montano said. 鈥淚t was a mess.鈥�

Montano is now a moderator of the Body Politic group on Slack.

Facebook and Twitter have made changes in their approaches toward COVID-19 misinformation, including additional fact-checking, removing posts that contain falsehoods and removing users or groups that spread them.

However, critics say more changes are needed.

Fadi Quran, director of campaigns for Avaaz, a human rights group that focuses on disinformation campaigns, said Facebook needs to revise the way it prioritizes content.

鈥淔acebook鈥檚 algorithm prefers misinformation, prefers the sensational stuff that鈥檚 going to get clicks and likes and make people angry,鈥� Quran said. 鈥淎nd so the misinformation actors, because of Facebook, will always have the upper hand.鈥�

A study by Avaaz showed that misinformation and disinformation had been viewed on Facebook four times as often as information from official health groups, like the World Health Organization.

Facebook did not respond to inquiries for this story.

COVID-19 patient Long-Middleton thinks the problem goes deeper than getting the data right. He said a lot of bad information is spread because patients so badly want to find ways to feel better.

After nearly six months of symptoms, Long-Middleton said he鈥檚 returned to better health in the past month, though he continues to check in on fellow support group members who are still struggling.

He never tried risky treatments discussed in the group himself, but he understands why someone might.

鈥淵ou want to find hope, but you don鈥檛 want the hope to lead you down a path that hurts you,鈥� he said.

This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.