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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 image13,674 published reviews in this topic
Une affiche vantant les mérites de la vaccination contre le Covid-19, parce qu'il faut faire confiance au gouvernement.
Publisher’s rating: Ce sont de fausses affiches, virtuelles. Elles détournent des messages figurant sur des panneaux publicitaires vantant la vaccination que la ville de Charleroi a loués, précise à la dpa l’attachée de presse de la ville wallonne, Fanny Van Leliendael.
The claim concerns posters circulating on Facebook that appear to promote Covid-19 vaccination in Charleroi, including one with the slogan “I have 100% confidence in my government. Tomorrow, I’m getting vaccinated.” The dpa review reports that the city’s name appeared on these posters, but Charleroi spokesperson Fanny Van Leliendael told dpa that the city had never published them: “Jamais la ville de Charleroi n’a publié de telles affiches, confirme Fanny Van Leliendael, interrogée par la dpa.” The review distinguishes the circulating images from an actual regional vaccination campaign. Van Leliendael said Charleroi had rented around 240 advertising locations for the Walloon Region’s campaign. Its genuine posters used messages about activities people hoped to resume, such as dining out, attending festivals, and seeing friends. The dpa account lists examples including “Pour manger au resto demain, je me vaccine” and “Pour retrouver mes amis demain, je me vaccine”. The misleading posters reused campaign imagery and altered the messages, adding statements about trust in government and other subjects. The review describes unusual drawings on the circulated version, including a gun, a duck pierced by syringes, a skull, and a television screen bearing the words “Pravda Rtbf.” Van Leliendael described the images and slogans as having been “détournés” on social media. The evidence presented therefore distinguishes the fake posters from the city’s rented campaign displays; it does not show that Charleroi issued the poster asserting trust in government.
Les vaccins contre le Covid-1919 créent les multiples variants du virus.
Publisher’s rating: Cette affirmation est fausse. Aucune étude scientifique ne permet à ce jour de prouver que les vaccins pourraient être la cause de l'apparition des différents variants. En particulier, il faut remarquer que les premiers cas du variant britannique du coronavirus ont été détectés en septembre 2020, alors que la vaccination contre le Covid-19 a officiellement débuté au Royaume-Uni deux mois plus tard, en décembre 2020.
The review concerns a Facebook post asserting that a vaccine created a virus variant; it identifies the broader claim as vaccines creating multiple Covid-19 variants. It says the claim had also been promoted by French geneticist Alexandra Henrion-Caude, but that her assertions had not been scientifically demonstrated. The review’s central distinction is between vaccines creating variants and variants potentially evading vaccine-induced immunity: it explains that the French National Academy of Medicine warned that a long interval between doses could leave a low level of immunity that might favor the emergence of variants able to escape that immunity. To assess whether vaccination could have caused the cited British variant, the review compares the reported timing of its first cases with the start of vaccination in the United Kingdom. It reports that the first cases appeared in September 2020 and that vaccination officially began on 8 December 2020. That chronology means the cited variant was present before the vaccination campaign began there, so it cannot support the claim that vaccination created that variant. The review also quotes two virologists to distinguish viral mutation from vaccine causation. Vincent Maréchal describes mutations as enabling a virus to resist the immune system, while Olivier Schwartz says vaccines do not manufacture the variant, though they may not be effective enough to prevent mutations. The review concludes that the material it discusses provides no evidence that a Covid-19 vaccine directly caused a virus variant.
Sí puede visitar a sus padres y abrazarlos si todos estàn completamente vacunados
Publisher’s rating: Verdadero
Claim: Nagpur hospital image being shared as Gujarat model
Publisher’s rating: Missing Context
The review concerns a social-media post presenting two photographs with the wording “three people in one bed” and calling the scene a “Gujarat model.” It says the post was shared on Facebook and Twitter and that readers also sent it to the publisher’s WhatsApp chatbot for checking. The review distinguishes the images rather than treating them as one piece of evidence: it says the first had been examined in an earlier review, while the second was not taken in Gujarat. It identifies that second image as coming from a government hospital in Nagpur, Maharashtra. To support the Nagpur identification, the review points to a tweet by Times Now journalist Megha Prasad and an ANI report about patients sharing beds at Nagpur’s GMC Hospital. The quoted ANI post is dated April 4, 2021, and attributes the overcrowding to patients arriving from urban and rural districts as well as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The review also says Hindi media reported that rising COVID-19 cases had caused a shortage of space at the Nagpur government hospital, where two or three patients were being accommodated on a bed. Its conclusion is that the image was misrepresented as being from Gujarat; the supplied excerpt does not provide the underlying archived posts or the linked reports’ full contents.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s message to sustain and cure the COVID-19 virus
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim concerned a social-media message attributed to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, head of the Isha Foundation. It said that avoiding talk about illness or viruses would make them dissipate, and presented this as advice for dealing with coronavirus fears. The review’s verdict was that the message was falsely attributed to him. The review reports that it searched for news coverage of the purported message and found none. It also cites a direct clarification from the Isha Foundation: the message about coronavirus fears and the quotes circulating with it were not from Sadhguru, and people were asked not to forward it. This attribution denial is the central evidence against the claim that the message was his. The review distinguishes the fake message from other statements by Sadhguru about the pandemic. It says he had urged people to act wisely and had offered a New Year 2021 message about responding rather than reacting, but that his recent interactions did not specifically mention the purported message’s claims about panic’s effects on COVID-19 patients. Thus, the existence of other pandemic-related remarks does not authenticate the viral message.
Pesan berantai berisi klaim bahwa Rusia tidak menemukan virus dalam hasil autopsi jenazah Covid-19
Publisher’s rating: Keliru
Kinder werden gegen Covid-19 geimpft. Es gibt bereits mehrere tote Kinder nach Impfungen. Der Impfstoff wird über die Muttermilch an den Säugling weitergegeben, was zu schweren Nebenwirkungen führen kann.
Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass Impfstoffe über die Muttermilch weitergegeben werden. Impfstoffe gegen das Coronavirus sind derzeit nicht für Kinder zugelassen. Laut der EMA fließen in ihre Datenbank aber auch vermutete Nebenwirkungen von «off label»-Anwendungen ein - also wenn ein an sich zugelassenes Arzneimittel auf eine nicht genehmigte Art verwendet wird. Über Kausalität sagen die Eintragungen in der Datenbank jedoch nichts aus.
Auf dem Schild eines Spitals steht "Impfen macht frei".
Publisher’s rating: Das untere Bild wurde manipuliert. Auf dem deutschen DRK-Krankenhaus Mölln-Ratzeburg steht eigentlich «Eingang». Das unbearbeitete Foto entstand bereits im vergangenen Jahr. Das Konzentrationslager Auschwitz wurde erst im Jahr 1940 errichtet, von 1933 kann das obere Foto also nicht stammen.
The post juxtaposed an image of Auschwitz’s entrance, bearing “Arbeit macht frei,” with a hospital entrance allegedly marked “Impfen macht frei.” It presented the Auschwitz image as dating from 1933 and the hospital image as current. The review identifies the hospital as the DRK-Krankenhaus Mölln-Ratzeburg in Schleswig-Holstein and says photographs of the entrance show the actual word “Eingang,” not the slogan added to the shared image. This directly addresses the sign at issue: the hospital image had been altered. The review also traces the underlying photograph to a hospital media statement dated March 12, 2020, which used the same image with the original sign. It reports that the photograph subsequently appeared in an online newspaper, and concludes that it was from 2020 rather than 2021. Separately, the review says Auschwitz was established in 1940 in occupied Poland, so the upper image could not show the camp as it existed in 1933. Together, the image comparison and chronology undermine both the alleged hospital wording and the post’s dates.
दो से तीन बूंद नींबू का रस नाक में डालने से पांच सेकंड में एक कोरोना संक्रमित शख्स बिलकुल ठीक हो जाता है
Publisher’s rating: False
Die gewünschte Inzidenz kann herbeigetestet werden; mehr Testen führt automatisch zu höherer Inzidenz.
Publisher’s rating: Die Inzidenz steigt nicht automatisch, wenn mehr getestet wird. Der Beitrag ist irreführend.
The review examines a Facebook sharepic arguing that testing more people can produce a higher incidence rate. It explains that the incidence figure is calculated from the number of positive tests in the previous seven days per 100,000 residents. The sharepic’s arithmetic works under a particular assumption: that infections are evenly distributed in the population and testing is representative. Under that assumption, testing a larger share of the population at the same positivity rate yields more positive results and thus a higher calculated incidence. The review identifies why that arithmetic does not establish that more testing automatically raises incidence in real conditions. Representative testing of a group selected according to demographic and scientific standards would be needed for the example to apply, and the review says that this was not how testing took place during the pandemic. It also notes that the Federal Centre for Health Education said that many tests can reveal the existing level of undetected infection rather than automatically increasing case counts. The review compares German testing figures from the last week of February 2021 with those from the last week of April. Tests rose from 1.17 million to 1.34 million, an increase of about 15 percent, while positive tests rose from more than 72,000 to nearly 150,000 and the positivity rate went from around six percent to more than 11 percent. This comparison shows that positivity changed alongside testing volume; it does not demonstrate that the additional tests themselves caused the increase. The review therefore distinguishes the sharepic’s conditional calculation from the claim that testing alone automatically drives incidence upward.
Zinktekort ontstaat door inname Fluor. Hydroxychloroquine/kinine kun je zelf maken van grapefruitschillen.
Publisher’s rating: De beweringen kloppen niet. Fluor is een giftige stof, maar zit niet in die vorm in tandpasta. Dat is fluoride, een andere chemische verbinding. Een zinktekort komt daarnaast maar zelden voor in Nederland en is niet op te lossen door een drankje met grapefruitschillen. Het ontstaat door te weinig gevarieerde voeding of medische aandoeningen. Ook hydroxychloroquine kun je niet maken van grapefruitschillen.
Het medicijn ivermectine is de reden dat in Tsjechië het aantal coronadoden sinds maart zo hard is gedaald.
Publisher’s rating: Het bericht klopt niet. Tsjechië heeft inderdaad het gebruik van ivermectine toegestaan, maar er is geen bewijs dat dit de reden is voor de afname van het aantal coronadoden. Sterker nog, volgens het Tsjechisch Ministerie van Volksgezondheid is de daling te danken aan de vaccinatiecampagne die sinds maart echt op gang is gekomen.
The claim arose from a Facebook post by De Andere Krant, which paired a graph with the assertion that ivermectin was officially approved and that the fall in Czech COVID-19 deaths since March showed the drug worked. The review distinguishes two facts the post conflated: the Czech Republic did authorize ivermectin use, and deaths did fall, but those facts alone do not establish that the drug caused the decline. The review reports that a temporary permit was issued in early March for distribution, dispensing and use of HUVEMEC, an unapproved ivermectin medicine. It also refers to Reuters statistics showing a sharp decline in Czech deaths from March. But the same trends page showed the vaccination programme gaining momentum from March; an estimated 16% of the population had received both doses at the time of the review. The review also notes that schools had remained closed until recently and people were generally allowed out only in limited circumstances, offering other possible contributors to the improvement. For the proposed explanation, the review cites a Czech Ministry of Health statement attributing the reduction in daily deaths primarily to vaccination, including its statement that vaccination had helped reduce hospital patients. It further says Full Fact’s article did not claim ivermectin explained the decline: that article noted Czech use of the drug, while calling for more research before reaching a firm conclusion about its effectiveness. The evidence presented therefore supports the distinction between permission to use ivermectin and proof that it caused the national decline; the review does not present the decline as evidence establishing ivermectin’s efficacy.
People in Israel no longer have to wear masks.
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
Er is geen enkele wetenschappelijke reden om gezonde mensen jonger dan 50 of mensen die al COVID-19 hebben gehad in te enten met een coronavaccin.
Publisher’s rating: De beweringen zijn fout. De brede bevolking vaccineren is wel degelijk nuttig, ook jonge en gezonde mensen. Over de immuniteit tegen COVID-19, of die nu bereikt wordt door infectie of vaccinatie, is nog verder onderzoek nodig. Maar een vaccin na infectie maakt de bescherming wel robuuster en rekenen op een infectie om je immuniteit te bezorgen is niet zonder risico's.
The claim concerns remarks by American physician Peter McCullough that vaccination has no scientific benefit for healthy people under 50 or for people who have recovered from COVID-19. The review identifies the video as a clip from McCullough’s remarks at a Texas Senate Committee on Health meeting on March 10, 2021, about the state’s COVID-19 situation. Its assessment is that vaccination can benefit both groups, while acknowledging that the duration and nature of immunity after infection or vaccination were not fully established. For younger, healthy people, the review says vaccination can prevent symptomatic disease and thereby help prevent severe illness and reduce pressure on the health-care system. It also reports that vaccinated people who become infected have a lower viral load and are less infectious. The review cites immunologist Adrian Liston to explain that younger, healthy people can still become seriously ill and suffer lasting lung damage; it does not present age or apparent good health as eliminating risk. On recovery from infection, the review describes studies finding a low chance of reinfection during the first six to eight months, but says it was uncertain whether that protection lasted longer. It rejects the claim that a vaccine cannot improve post-infection immunity: Liston is quoted saying vaccination after infection increases its quality and strength. The review also notes that it is not always known who has previously had COVID-19, and that acquiring immunity through infection carries the risk of illness and lasting harm. Its conclusion is therefore not that the precise duration of immunity was settled, but that vaccination could provide benefits even for the groups named in the claim.
Las vacunas contra el covid-19 se hicieron demasiado rápido y eso compromete su seguridad
Publisher’s rating: Falso
Covid 19 patient being admitted to Batticaloa Hospital , Sri Lanka while suffering from a panic attack
Publisher’s rating: true
Alle coronamaatregelen in België zijn illegaal en buiten toepassing.
Publisher’s rating: Het bericht klopt deels, maar mist context. De rechter heeft in zijn vonnis inderdaad opgenomen dat de coronamaatregelen in België "buiten toepassing" zijn, maar heeft slechts de bevoegdheid om in deze individuele zaak de eiser in het gelijk te stellen en niet de maatregelen voor de hele maatschappij te ontbinden. Zolang de Raad van State, in België het enige orgaan met de bevoegdheid om ministeriële besluiten te vernietigen, niet tot hetzelfde oordeel komt, blijven de maatregelen van kracht.
The claim arose from a Facebook post by Viruswaarheid leader Willem Engel linking to a Viruswaanzin article. The accompanying video said a judge had immediately declared Belgium’s coronavirus measures “buiten toepassing.” The review examined a Brussels interim-relief ruling issued on 31 March 2021 in a case brought by the Belgian state against the Liga voor Mensenrechten and Ligue des Droits Humains. Those organizations challenged the legal basis for the measures, and the judge ruled in their favor.