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Health & medicine fact checks
Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.
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Search by text or image13,673 published reviews in this topic
70 % des personnes hospitalisées à cause du Covid-19 sont complètement vaccinées, preuve que le vaccin ne fonctionne pas.
Publisher’s rating: Ce pourcentage nécessite d’être mis en contexte. Si l’on tient compte des chiffres en valeur absolue, il y a en effet plus de personnes vaccinées à l’hôpital en Flandre que de non vaccinées, au moment des déclarations de Frank Vandenbroucke. Mais si l’on se penche sur la question en tenant compte des proportions, la tendance s’inverse.
The claim concerns a figure Frank Vandenbroucke gave about COVID-19 hospital admissions in Flanders: it was circulated as evidence that vaccines did not work. The original review traces the figure to his response during a parliamentary Health and Equal Opportunities Commission session on October 26, 2021. It covered admissions from October 16 to 22: 236 of 333 patients admitted in Flanders were fully vaccinated. That count is not, on its own, a comparison of the likelihood of hospitalization for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The review says about 80% of Flanders’ population was fully vaccinated, and compares the admissions with the size of each vaccination group. It reports 5,311,067 vaccinated people and 1,291,690 unvaccinated people, noting that 806,504 of the latter were under 12 and ineligible for vaccination. Using the review’s counts, admissions amounted to 44 per million vaccinated people; among unvaccinated people, the rate was about 200 per million, or 75 per million after excluding those under 12. The investigation therefore found that the larger absolute number of vaccinated patients did not show that vaccinated people faced a greater hospitalization risk. It concluded that, for the period and population examined, the proportion hospitalized was higher among unvaccinated people. The review also cautions that hospitalization counts alone cannot establish vaccine effectiveness: individual and epidemiological factors would need to be considered in a deeper analysis.
Im Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Klinikum Kirchdorf werden alle Ungeimpften und positiv Getesteten auf die Intensivstation aufgenommen
Publisher’s rating: Sowohl das Krankenhaus als auch die Oberösterreichische Gesundheitsholding GmbH dementieren die Gerüchte. Schuberth ist nicht mehr Ärztlicher Direktor und bereits seit dem Jahr 2019 in Pension.
The claim concerned a message circulating in messaging services that attributed an order to Dr. Oswald Schuberth: all unvaccinated and positively tested people were supposedly to be admitted to intensive care, regardless of their vital condition. The review reports that the hospital and the Upper Austrian Health Holding (OÖG) rejected the allegation. It also found that Schuberth was no longer the hospital’s medical director; the OÖG website named Dr. Michael Hubich in that role, and an OÖG spokesperson said Schuberth had retired in 2019. The Telegram message was dated 26 October and was no longer accessible, though the review says its wording remained visible in posts that shared it. The OÖG spokesperson called the allegation fabricated and said the organization had sent cease-and-desist requests to some users who circulated it. The review also compared reported intensive-care figures: eight of 54 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care at the time of reporting, compared with six of 36 at the end of October, five of 22 in mid-October, and four of 19 at the beginning of October. It said these figures showed no drastic shift toward intensive-care patients. The hospital’s Facebook statement said intensive-care patients were treated there because of serious illness, not economic factors. The OÖG spokesperson further explained that patients were counted as COVID-19 intensive-care patients only when they had typical symptoms and tested positive; a heart-attack patient who happened to test positive would not be classified that way. These reported statements and figures contradict the alleged blanket admission order.
Video of Somalia bananas having a worm called Helicobacter which will cause brain death 12 hours after its consumption
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a viral video and posts alleging that bananas from Somalia contained a worm called Helicobacter and that eating one would cause brain death within 12 hours. FACTLY’s review reports that the video circulated with claims that the bananas had been imported from Somalia to Iran, and that the same video and claim also spread in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in West Asia. The review says the video’s authenticity could not be verified, so it does not establish where the fruit came from or what it depicts. The investigation used reverse-image searches of screenshots from the video and found a Persian article featuring the same footage. It also reports that Abu Dhabi’s Agriculture and Food Safety Authority called the video incorrect and its accompanying message false and misleading. The authority’s stated reason was that worms are not known to complete their life cycle inside fruits as large as the ones shown. Separately, a food-toxicology expert quoted in the Persian article explained that Helicobacter is a bacterium, not a worm; FACTLY notes that the footage’s worm-like organisms might be maggots, but says this could not be confirmed. The review also challenges the implied danger: it says Helicobacter infections are common and may cause stomach ulcers or cancer for some people over many years, while most people have no symptoms. It reports finding no data to support a claim that 500 tons of bananas were imported from Somalia into India, and says official Commerce Ministry data showed no banana imports from Somalia. These points undermine the specific claims about the organism, the 12-hour outcome, and the alleged import origin, while leaving the video’s authenticity unresolved.
هل مناعة لقاح كوفيد-19 أقوى من المناعة الطبيعية؟
Publisher’s rating: صحيح
¿La vacuna del covid-19 causó el malestar en el pecho del futbolista Sergio “Kun” Agüero?
Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias
Krvni ugrušci nisu zvanična nuspojava vakcine, niti ima dokaza da je Agueru pozlilo zbog nje
Publisher’s rating: Nema dokaza
Das spanische Gesundheitsministeriums hat mitgeteilt: «SarCov2 ist nicht isoliert»
Publisher’s rating: Das Schreiben des spanischen Gesundheitsministeriums ist zwar echt, wird auf Facebook jedoch in einen falschen Zusammenhang gestellt. Das Ministerium schreibt hier nur, dass es selbst nicht die nötigen wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen zur Verfügung hat, um das Virus nachzuweisen. Mehrere Labore in Spanien haben allerdings die entsprechende Biosicherheitsstufe 3.
The claim concerned a Facebook post sharing an image of a Spanish health ministry document. The post presented the document as showing that the ministry said SARS-CoV-2 had not been isolated. The review says the document was genuine, but the post misrepresented what it established: the ministry’s response addressed its own capacity and records, not whether the virus had been isolated elsewhere. (S1: “Auf Facebook kursiert das Bild eines anscheinend offiziellen Dokumentes des spanischen Gesundheitsministeriums”; “Das Ministerium schreibt hier nur, dass es selbst nicht die nötigen wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen zur Verfügung hat, um das Virus nachzuweisen.”) The document answered a public request to prove the coronavirus’s existence. According to the review, it said the ministry had neither a SARS-CoV-2 cell culture for testing nor a list of laboratories able to isolate the virus. Those statements concern resources and information available to that ministry; they do not establish that isolation had never occurred. (S1: “Das Schreiben des spanischen Gesundheitsministeriums geht auf die Anfrage aus der Bevölkerung zurück, die Existenz des Coronavirus zu beweisen.”; “In der Antwort des Ministeriums steht auf der zweiten Seite, dass das es weder über eine «Sars-CoV-2-Zellkultur für Tests» noch über eine Liste von Labors verfügt, die dazu in der Lage sind, diese zu isolieren.”) The review also reports that researchers in several countries had isolated the coronavirus, and points to Spanish laboratories with the necessary biosafety level. It names a University of Zaragoza laboratory where researchers had isolated the virus in June 2020, as well as two centers under Spain’s science ministry that reports said could do so. This evidence directly counters the broader implication that the virus had not been isolated. (S1: “Das Coronavirus wurde aber bereits von zahlreichen Forschenden weltweit - unabhängig voneinander - isoliert.”; “Forschende haben dort schon im Juni 2020 das Coronavirus isoliert.”; “Außerdem gibt es entsprechend der Berichte zwei Zentren, die ebenfalls dazu in der Lage sind, die dem Wissenschaftsministerium in Spanien unterstellt sind.”)
un rapport révèle que seuls 2,9 % des morts du Covid-19 ont succombé uniquement au virus
Publisher’s rating: Faux
La vacuna produce infertilidad
Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias
Er liggen meer gevaccineerden dan ongevaccineerden in Vlaamse ziekenhuizen, dus het vaccin werkt niet.
Publisher’s rating: De cijfers uit deze video missen de nodige context. In absolute cijfers liggen er meer gevaccineerden in het ziekenhuis, maar dat geeft een vertekend beeld. Er liggen proportioneel gezien meer ongevaccineerde mensen in het ziekenhuis.
The claim draws on a video in which Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke read hospitalisation figures, and argues that more vaccinated patients in hospital mean the vaccine does not work. The review traces the clip to a 26 October 2021 meeting of the parliamentary Committee for Health and Equal Opportunities. It says the figures concerned hospital and intensive-care admissions by vaccination status from 16 to 22 October, and that the clip was part of a longer answer about several aspects of coronavirus policy.
La. vacuna produce disfunción eréctil
Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias
The review addresses the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine causes erectile dysfunction. It states that the injection does not produce erectile dysfunction or prolonged erections, and also rejects the claim that it causes testicular swelling. The supplied excerpt does not describe the investigation’s methods, identify studies or experts consulted, or provide supporting data. It therefore establishes what conclusion the review reports, but does not provide enough detail to independently assess the evidence behind that conclusion.
"ضبابية الدماغ" عارض جديد يرافق المرضى الشباب بعد تعافيهم من كوفيد-19؟
Publisher’s rating: صحيح جزئياً
The review examines the claim that young people may experience “brain fog” after recovering from COVID-19. It describes a study published in JAMA that assessed cognitive functioning in 740 people after COVID-19; their average age was between 18 and 49. The review reports that the assessment found problems involving attention, executive function, processing speed, verbal fluency and some memory functions, measured months after infection. The review also describes a separate Mount Sinai study of 156 patients. It reports that 67% experienced brain fog, alongside fatigue, headache, sleep disturbance and dizziness. In a more detailed assessment, researchers found some degree of reported cognitive impairment in more than 60% of patients; described difficulties included short-term memory, recalling names, decision-making and daily planning. Taken together, the reported findings support the narrower point that young people recovering from COVID-19 can experience cognitive problems, including brain fog. But the review says the studies did not address whether brain fog has a treatment: instead, it notes that further research was needed to identify possible treatments. Thus, the evidence described supports the post-COVID cognitive-symptom claim, but not a claim that the condition is untreatable.
La inflamación de los testículos es parte de los efectos secundarios de la vacuna
Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias
La vacuna hace crecer el pene o prolonga la erección
Publisher’s rating: No hay evidencias
Le Covid-19 est un canular. Le virus n'a pas été détecté lors d'autopsies.
Publisher’s rating: L'affirmation est fausse. Le virus existe et est également détecté dans les autopsies.
The review examines social-media posts claiming that COVID-19 was a hoax because autopsies had not detected the virus. The posts attributed this assertion to German forensic pathologist Klaus Püschel, alleging that he found no virus in 140 bodies, and made similar claims about forensic doctors in Russia, Spain and Japan. The review reports that Püschel never said he had found no COVID-19 cases in his examinations; he had examined more than 200 pandemic-related deaths. The review points to a study co-authored by Püschel and published in June 2021 on precautions during post-mortem examinations. It says the study covered 320 COVID-19-related deaths examined in forensic institutes in Frankfurt and Hamburg. The study’s reported findings distinguish between sample locations: the virus was not detected in swabs from the body’s surface, but it was detected in swabs from inside the body, with traces of infectious virus still found after 17 days. That distinction directly counters the broader claim that the virus was not detected in autopsies. The review also provides context for Püschel’s public remarks: in an April 2020 interview he said fear of the virus was exaggerated, and he later told Die Zeit that his intention was to reassure the public, not minimize the virus. It describes his comments about the age and pre-existing illnesses of many people who died as consistent with the Robert Koch Institute’s statement that severe or fatal illness becomes more likely with age and underlying conditions. For the Russian allegation, the review says the claim appears to stem from social-media posts presenting a purported Russian Health Ministry communication that was actually fictitious. It adds that Russian official sources described COVID-19 as a viral disease and that, according to official information cited in the review, COVID-19-related deaths in Russia were autopsied.
۵۰۰ تن موز کرمخورده حاوی هلیکوباکتر از سومالی وارد ایران شده است
Publisher’s rating: نادرست
650 died in the USA because of a disease that spread due to eating onions
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerned a post saying that 650 people in the United States had died from a disease spread by eating onions. FACTLY’s review examined the post’s linked article and the reported 2021 U.S. Salmonella outbreak associated with whole, fresh onions. It found that the article’s headline suggested deaths, but its text did not: the article stated that “no one has died so far.” The review compared that death claim with CDC outbreak figures. It reports that the CDC’s October 29, 2021 figures recorded 808 illnesses and 157 hospitalizations, with no deaths reported. Earlier figures in the review, from October 20, recorded 652 people sick and 129 hospitalized, also with no reported deaths. These figures support that the outbreak caused illnesses and hospitalizations, but do not support the post’s claim of 650 deaths. The review also describes the evidence linking the outbreak to onions: the CDC identified whole onions as the source and advised people not to eat certain onions, while the FDA, CDC, and state and local partners investigated. The FDA traceback named ProSource Produce and Keeler Family Farms as suppliers of potentially contaminated onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico. The review therefore concluded that the onion-outbreak connection was real, but the asserted death toll was not supported.