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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

13,672 published reviews in this topic

El Detector / Univision NoticiasHealth & medicine

El síndrome Ramsay Hunt, que le provocó parálisis facial al cantante Justin Bieber, está relacionado con la viruela del mono

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review examined claims circulating on Facebook and Twitter that Justin Bieber’s facial paralysis and Ramsay Hunt syndrome were connected to monkeypox. It reports that Bieber announced his paralysis on June 10 and says the renewed claims falsely linked his syndrome to the monkeypox outbreak. The central question was whether the conditions share a cause or are otherwise related—not simply whether both can involve skin symptoms. To assess that question, the article says it checked information from the World Health Organization, Mayo Clinic, the US National Library of Medicine, and a virologist. It identifies Ramsay Hunt syndrome as a consequence of reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which can remain latent after chickenpox. Monkeypox, by contrast, is caused by a different virus in the orthopoxvirus family. The article quotes University of Maryland virologist José Esparza describing the conditions as belonging to different viral families and producing different effects. The review also contrasts their transmission and symptoms. It says monkeypox can spread through physical contact, while Ramsay Hunt syndrome itself is not contagious; contact with a patient’s blisters may transmit chickenpox to someone without prior infection or vaccination, not Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The article distinguishes the conditions’ typical skin findings and associated symptoms as well. Its conclusion is that Bieber’s syndrome has no connection to monkeypox, rather than being another name for it or a manifestation of that infection.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasHealth & medicine

¿Los albinos no pueden salir a la calle cuando hace sol?

Publisher’s rating: Falta contexto

The review examines the claim that people with albinism cannot go outside when it is sunny. It says this claim needs qualification: people with albinism can go outdoors during daylight, but they need to take precautions because they are especially sensitive to sun exposure. The article attributes this sensitivity to their lack of melanin, the pigment that provides color to skin, hair and eyes. (S1: “Los albinos sí pueden salir a la calle cuando hace sol, pero con más cautela y protección. Ya mencionamos que son extremadamente sensibles a la exposición solar pero sí pueden salir a la calle durante las horas del día tomando las precauciones adecuadas.”) To explain what precautions mean, the review cites the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH), which recommends limiting sun exposure and using suitable hats, clothing and sunscreen. It also quotes dermatologist David Colbert, who said that people with albinism can go out but need protection because a lack of melanin raises their risk of skin and eye cancer. These details qualify the claim: sunlight calls for protection, not a blanket prohibition on going outside. (S1: “Como indica la NOAH, pueden disfrutar de la vida al aire libre ‘limitando su exposición a la luz solar, llevando sombreros y ropa adecuados y utilizando protectores solares’.”; “Las personas con albinismo pueden salir, pero tienen que protegerse. Por la falta de melanina, los albinos tienen un riesgo de contraer cáncer de la piel y los ojos,” comentó a elDetector el dermatólogo David Colbert.) The review’s conclusion likewise says people with albinism may go outside, while emphasizing extra protection from solar radiation. It does not claim that going outdoors is risk-free; its point is that the absolute version of the claim leaves out the possibility of going out with appropriate precautions. (S1: “También le falta contexto a la idea de que los albinos no pueden salir a la calle cuando hace sol. Sí pueden, solo que han de extremar las medidas de protección ya que son más sensibles a la radiación solar por su condición, según la NOAH.”)

dpaHealth & medicine

Eine israelische Studie beweists, dass der Schutz vor Covid-19 durch Infektion dem durch die Impfung überlegen ist.

Publisher’s rating: Die Studie betrachtet ausschließlich die Delta-Variante und hat keine Aussagekraft bezüglich anderer Varianten wie zum Beispiel Omikron. Sie ist auch kein Beleg dafür, dass eine Impfung für Genesene nicht zu empfehlen ist. Im Gegenteil: Die Autoren stellen fest, dass der Schutz sowohl bei geimpften als auch bei genesenen Personen im Laufe der Zeit abnahm und eine zusätzliche Impfstoffdosis den Schutz für eine bestimmte Zeitspanne wiederherstellte.

Boatos.orgHealth & medicine

TERROR: Confirmada as descobertas dos cientistas sobre o 'Hydra o nano-polvo' encontrado na vax da Pfizer

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim under review is that scientists found a “Hydra,” described as a nano-octopus, in Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine samples. Boatos.org calls the allegation false and describes it as a recycled version of an earlier story alleging that a different organism, “A Coisa,” had been found in vaccines. The review says the 2022 post repeated material from a vaccine-denialist site, which it characterizes as an unreliable source that frequently published vaccine misinformation. To assess the video circulating with the allegation, the review reports consulting Giselle Bianco Bortoletto, a biomedical scientist and medical-genetics doctoral student at Unicamp. She identified the large circles shown as cells, but said the video did not provide enough information to identify the cells’ origin or establish what the sample was: it lacked standard staining, references, and information about magnification. She said the sample might not even be human. Thus, the images did not substantiate the claim that the material came from a vaccine or showed a Hydra. The review also traced the supposed explanatory lecture to Franc Zalewski, whom it identifies as a geologist with a doctorate from the University of Silesia, rather than someone with a healthcare background. It further notes that the allegation recycled elements of earlier claims about “A Coisa,” graphene oxide, aluminum, and carbon. The review’s cited checks of the video and its provenance do not establish the claimed discovery; it concludes that the Hydra allegation is false.

dpaHealth & medicine

Brigitte Macron heeft zich aan de prostaat laten opereren.

Publisher’s rating: Het artikel is van een satirische website en de inhoud van het artikel over Brigitte Macron is dan ook onzin. Dat geeft de website zelf toe.

The claim concerned a French website’s assertion that Brigitte Macron had urgently undergone prostate surgery. The review says the allegation relied on an old false rumor about her sex and explains that the surgery story implied she was actually a man. Its conclusion is that the story was fabricated, not a report of a real operation. 【S1】 The decisive evidence presented is the article’s provenance and the publisher’s own description of its content. The review identifies the source as Secret News, which calls itself a parody outlet, and says the site explicitly warns that its articles should not be taken as true. On that basis, the review characterizes the prostate-surgery story as parody and humor, with no basis in reality. 【S1】 The review also supplies the story’s chronology: it says the satirical article had already appeared online in November 2018, while Brigitte Macron took legal action against the broader, unfounded rumors in December 2021. Those dates provide context for why the claim was not a new medical report; they do not establish that an operation occurred. 【S1】

dpaHealth & medicine

Der Affenpocken-Ausbruch war geplant.

Publisher’s rating: Mit Hilfe von Planspielen ergründen Organisationen, wie sie im Falle eines globalen Krankheitsausbruchs wirksam reagieren können. Für solche Szenarien werden meist Erreger ausgewählt, die eine reale Gefahr für mögliche Ausbrüche darstellen - nicht nur Affenpocken. Daher ist es erwartbar, dass es Jahre nach einem theoretischen Planspiel tatsächlich Ausbrüche gibt.

The claim arose from a widely shared Telegram post asserting that the outbreak was planned. The post pointed to a report about an exercise held by NTI|bio during the Munich Security Conference in 2021. The central issue is whether that exercise is evidence of a plan for the later real-world outbreak, or a hypothetical scenario that happened to use a similar pathogen. The review describes the exercise as a fictional pandemic scenario involving a modified monkeypox virus resistant to vaccines. Its modeled consequences were far more severe than the outbreak then occurring: the scenario assumed rapid global spread, 27 million deaths within a year, and more than 270 million after a further seven months. The review contrasts this with the current outbreak and with longstanding infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it says the number of cases was much lower than in the model. It also notes that the strain spreading in Europe from early May 2022 was the comparatively mild West African strain. The review says NTI|bio selected a similar pathogen because monkeypox outbreaks had already occurred in multiple countries. It places the exercise among a series of scenarios involving many different pathogens, and argues that the existence of a scenario does not establish that an outbreak was planned. The evidence presented therefore identifies substantial differences between the exercise and the real outbreak, while explaining why the exercise used monkeypox in the first place.