Health & medicine fact checks

Bastidores de Brasília: comentários dizem que o Ministro Toffoli estaria com câncer de pâncreas. Realmente, muito grave. Lamentável, inclusive não anunciarem.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

Testes são manipulados e que pandemia é uma farsa

Publisher’s rating: FALSO: Vídeo publicado no YouTube e no Instagram divulga alegações falsas sobre a pandemia, sobre validade de testes e sobre notificações erradas nos EUA

Laut CDC starben nur sechs Prozent der vermeintlichen Corona-Toten an dem Virus. Der Rest starb an den Vorerkrankungen.

Publisher’s rating: Das ist falsch. Sechs Prozent der Fälle sind laut CDC an Covid-19 als einzige Ursache gestorben. Auch die restlichen Toten seien an dem Virus verstorben, wiesen aber eine oder mehrere Vorerkrankungen auf.

The claim interprets CDC figures to mean that only six percent of reported COVID-19 deaths were caused by the virus, while the rest were caused by pre-existing conditions. The review says the CDC had analyzed a National Center for Health Statistics dataset, not conducted a study. It explains that the six-percent figure refers to deaths for which COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned; the remaining cases also listed COVID-19, alongside other conditions or causes. [S1]

Projeto de lei em tramitação na Câmara dos Deputados quer obrigar as pessoas a tomarem a vacina contra a covid-19, sob pena de serem detidos por até um ano

Publisher’s rating: FALSO: O que o projeto de lei em tramitação na Câmara propõe é a definição de uma lista de pessoas prioritárias para uma possível campanha de imunização. A possibilidade de adoção de vacinação obrigatória contra covid-19 já está prevista em lei sancionada pelo presidente da República em fevereiro

In een post op Facebook wordt gesteld dat de regering het dragen van mondkapjes thuis verplicht: "Mondkapjes plicht in eigen woning zegt Rutte 3".

Publisher’s rating: De stelling is fout. Er bestaat geen plicht om in de eigen woning een mondkapje te dragen, en er zijn ook geen plannen voor zo’n verplichting in het kader van de strijd tegen de COVID-19-pandemie.

కూల్ డ్రింక్స్ ఎబోలా వైరస్ తో కలుషితం అవ్వడంతో వాటిని కొద్ది రోజులు తాగవద్దని చెప్పిన హైదరాబాద్ పోలీసులు. కూల్ డ్రింక్స్ తాగి అస్వస్థకు గురైన ప్రజల ఫోటోలు

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

Only 6% of the total number of people with coronavirus on their death certificate in the United States actually died from the virus.

Publisher’s rating: This is false. Of all the death certificates in the US that mention Covid-19, only 6% mention no other illnesses. However, 92% of the total clearly state Covid-19 as the underlying cause of death. So while a patient may have had lung problems or diabetes referred to on their certificates, coronavirus has been given as the main cause of death.

War die Corona-Pandemie geplant und wurde das Virus möglicherweise seit langer Zeit im Labor entwickelt? Ein Video, das im Messengerdienst Telegram und auf Facebook kursiert, legt das nahe - und zeigt ein vermeintliches «Manuskript». Facebook-User sehen die Liste unter anderem als Beweis für eine «Entwicklung» des Coronavirus und erwarten, dass sie "Erdbeben Effekte (sic!)» auslösen wird.

Publisher’s rating: Das Video führt die Titel verschiedener Studien zur Forschung an Coronaviren seit dem Jahr 1968 auf. Einen Beleg für eine «Entwicklung» des neuartigen Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 stellt die Auflistung nicht dar.

The claim concerns a video circulating on Telegram and Facebook that presents a list of coronavirus study titles as a supposed manuscript. Some Facebook users treated the list as evidence that the pandemic was planned and that SARS-CoV-2 had been developed in a laboratory. The review examined the titles shown in the video and compared them with the studies they referred to. It reports that the list records coronavirus research over time, not evidence of deliberate creation of the novel virus. [S1: “Ein Video, das im Messengerdienst Telegram und auf Facebook kursiert, legt das nahe - und zeigt ein vermeintliches «Manuskript».”; “Sie dokumentiert jedoch lediglich den Fortschritt der Forschung seit der Entdeckung der Coronaviren und nicht die bewusste Entwicklung etwa in Labors.”] The first listed item was “Virology_Coronaviruses.pdf,” paired with 1968. The review identifies a real 1968 Nature study titled “Coronaviruses,” published under the subject heading “Virology.” It says the study described the discovery of a new group of viruses, named for their crown-like appearance, and names British virologist June Almeida as an author. Other filenames likewise point to published research: examples include a 1972 paper on coronavirus strain OC43, a 1983 paper on coronavirus biology, and a 2004 study concerning SARS-coronavirus genes. [S1: “In diesem Jahr erschien tatsächlich eine Studie mit dem Titel «Coronaviruses» unter der Rubrik «Virology» in der wissenschaftlichen Fachzeitschrift «Nature».”; “Weitere in dem Video gezeigte Dateinamen verweisen ebenfalls auf Studien zu Coronaviren.”] The review says these studies are openly available online and are not secret documents. It also notes that the list’s compiler is unknown. Its stated evidence therefore supports the narrower explanation that the video has collected titles of historical and later research, including work on SARS, rather than demonstrating that SARS-CoV-2 was engineered. The review adds that it found no credible reports of laboratory development of the virus. [S1: “All diese Studien sind offen im Internet zugänglich - und keine Geheimdokumente oder ähnliches.”; “Zwar ist unklar, wer die Liste erstellt hat.”; “Glaubhafte Berichte über eine Entwicklung des Virus in Labors gibt es nicht.”]

War die Corona-Pandemie geplant - und das Virus möglicherweise im Labor entwickelt? Ein Video, das im Messengerdienst Telegram und auf Facebook kursiert, legt das nahe - und zeigt ein vermeintliches «Manuskript».

Publisher’s rating: Das Video führt die Titel verschiedener Studien zur Forschung an Coronaviren seit dem Jahr 1968 auf. Einen Beleg für eine «Entwicklung» des neuartigen Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 stellt die Auflistung nicht dar.

The video presents a list of coronavirus-related research titles as a supposed manuscript supporting the idea that the pandemic was planned or that SARS-CoV-2 was developed in a laboratory. The investigation examined the titles shown in that list, rather than treating the list itself as proof of how the pandemic began. The first listed entry was “Virology_Coronaviruses.pdf,” paired with 1968. The review identified a real 1968 Nature paper titled “Coronaviruses,” published under the Virology heading. Its authors described discovering a new group of viruses and naming them for their crown-like appearance. The review also checked other entries against published research: examples included a 1972 paper on coronavirus strain OC43, a 1983 paper on coronavirus biology, and a 2004 study concerning SARS-coronavirus genes. The titles therefore point to research conducted over time, including work on the SARS virus; the review found that the cited studies were openly available, not secret documents. It reported that the list’s creator was unclear, and that the list documented research progress rather than evidence of deliberate laboratory development. The review also noted that it found no credible reports of laboratory development of the virus.

In einem Facebook-Posting heißt es, allein die Impfung bei der Spanischen Grippe im Jahr 1918 habe 50 Millionen Menschen getötet. Zudem schreibt der User - wahrscheinlich mit Bezug auf den österreichischen Bundeskanzler Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP): «Kurz will die Pflichtimpfung». Unklar ist, ob er sich auf eine Impfung gegen das derzeit grassierende Coronavirus oder gegen die Grippe bezieht.

Publisher’s rating: Im Jahr 1918 gab es noch gar keine Grippe-Impfung, daher kann es auch keine Toten gegeben haben. Bundeskanzler Sebastian Kurz sprach sich mehrmals gegen eine Corona-Impfpflicht aus. Es gibt keine Belege dafür, dass er eine Grippe-Impfpflicht befürwortet.

The Facebook post makes two claims in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic: that vaccination during the 1918 Spanish flu killed 50 million people, and that Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wanted mandatory vaccination. The review reports that the post does not make clear whether “mandatory vaccination” means a COVID-19 vaccine or a flu vaccine. It therefore checks the historical assertion separately from what Kurz said about vaccine requirements. On the historical claim, the review says the Spanish flu pandemic occurred from 1918 to 1919 and killed about 21 million people worldwide. It explains that a flu vaccine was not available in 1918, so the claim that vaccination killed 50 million people that year cannot be correct. The article gives a chronology: researchers were still investigating whether flu was viral rather than bacterial; the first clinical trials of flu vaccines took place in the mid-1930s, and large studies of early influenza vaccines began in 1942. Thus the post attributes deaths to a vaccine that did not yet exist. On Kurz, the review reports that he had spoken against a compulsory COVID-19 vaccination and found no evidence that he supported mandatory flu vaccination. It notes a January 2020 government meeting where a flu-vaccination requirement for health workers was said to be under consideration, but says this apparently was not pursued. Kurz’s remarks in the ORF Summer Conversation on 31 August 2020 are also relevant: he expressed skepticism about mandatory vaccination and said the government would not introduce it, in response to a question that included flu vaccination for health workers. The review’s account therefore does not support the post’s unqualified wording that he “wanted” mandatory vaccination.

De CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) zou in alle stilte de Amerikaanse coronacijfers aangepast hebben, zo zegt een facebookpost. Slechts 6% van de overledenen zouden echt aan COVID-19 gestorven zijn. De overige 94% zou andere ernstige ziektes gehad hebben en is daaraan overleden, waarvan het merendeel ook nog heel oud was. Het bericht circuleert al enkele dagen op sociale media.

Publisher’s rating: De bewering is fout. De data van de CDC toont dat bij 6% van de Amerikaanse coronadoden COVID-19 als enige doodsoorzaak werd opgegeven. De overige 94% hadden een of meerdere bestaande aandoeningen naast COVID-19 op het moment van overlijden.

Campuran air kelapa, jeruk nipis, dan garam bisa membunuh virus Corona Covid-19

Publisher’s rating: Keliru

Die Bundesregierung und die Landesregierungen bitten in der Corona-Krise weiter darum, Abstands- und Hygieneregeln einzuhalten. In den sozialen Netzwerken tauchen jedoch immer wieder Fotos auf, die belegen sollen, dass Politiker sich nicht an diese Regeln halten. Ein Facebook-Beitrag unterstellt zum Beispiel, dass die Bundeskanzlerin und die Ministerpräsidenten bei einem Treffen keinen Abstand gewahrt und keine Masken getragen hätten.

Publisher’s rating: Die Aufnahmen sind nicht aktuell, sondern stammen vom 12. März, als noch keine Maßnahmen wie Abstandsregeln beschlossen waren.

The post implied that Angela Merkel and the state premiers had failed to observe distancing and mask rules at a meeting. The review traced the image to an n-tv report published on June 17, 2020, about an upcoming meeting. It says the report used archive footage from mid-March, and that its opening camera shot matches the image in the Facebook post. The archive label had been cropped from the version posted on Facebook. The review identifies the depicted politicians as Merkel, Brandenburg premier Dietmar Woidke, and, partly obscured or seen from behind, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern premier Manuela Schwesig and Rhineland-Palatinate premier Malu Dreyer. It dates the footage to March 12, 2020: that was the last in-person meeting between Merkel and the state premiers before the lockdown, and the politicians wore the same clothes in other images from that day. The image therefore did not show a later meeting taking place under the restrictions then in force. The timing matters. The review states that comprehensive contact restrictions had not yet taken effect on March 12; after that meeting, Merkel asked people at a press conference only to reduce social contacts. It dates the first extensive movement restrictions in Bavaria and Saarland to March 21, when minimum-distance rules were also set out, and Saxony’s first public-transport and retail mask requirement to April 20. The post’s presentation thus omitted both the footage’s earlier date and the fact that the image came from archive material.

O presidente Jair Bolsonaro declarou que ninguém pode obrigar ninguém a tomar a vacina

Publisher’s rating: Enganoso: A Lei 13.979, de iniciativa do governo federal e sancionada pelo presidente da República em 6 de fevereiro de 2020, prevê em seu artigo terceiro a vacinação como uma das medidas compulsórias que podem ser adotadas pelo governo

In Österreich und in anderen Ländern wird ein sogenannter PCR-Test verwendet, um eine Ansteckung mit dem Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 zu überprüfen. Angeblich könne dieser Test jedoch kein Virus nachweisen, heißt es in den sozialen Netzwerken, etwa bei Facebook. Das habe vermeintlich auch der Erfinder des PCR-Tests, Kary Mullis, zugegeben.

Publisher’s rating: Eine grundsätzliche Ablehnung seitens Mullis zum Einsatz des PCR-Tests als Viren-Nachweis ist nicht belegt. Die PCR-Methode wird seit Jahren für die Diagnostik in der Medizin verwendet - auch für den Virusnachweis.

The claim combines two propositions: that PCR cannot detect viruses and that Kary Mullis, who developed the method, acknowledged or opposed its use for viral detection. The review says the alleged Mullis position is not substantiated and explains that PCR amplifies selected genetic material in a sample so it can be analyzed. Since viruses contain genetic material, the method can detect viral material, including SARS-CoV-2 RNA; that is different from using a test to count infectious viruses. To trace the attribution, the review identifies a 1996 English-language blog post about HIV and AIDS as a likely source. It notes that the post’s statement that tests cannot detect free infectious viruses is written by the blog’s author, not presented as a quotation from Mullis. The post also discusses PCR’s limits for counting material. The review therefore distinguishes a point about quantification from the separate question of whether PCR can identify viral RNA. The review also describes the Ct value used in PCR testing: it reflects how many cycles are needed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA, with higher values indicating a lower concentration in the sample. It cites the Robert Koch Institute’s guidance that a result above Ct 30 is still a positive RNA detection, albeit one corresponding to a low viral load. This supports the distinction between detecting genetic material and assessing viral quantity or infectiousness.

Pandemia de covid-19 é um plano de controle populacional intitulado “certificado de identificação de vacinação com inteligência artificial”

Publisher’s rating: FALSO: É falso que os testes não funcionam e que as vacinas que estão sendo desenvolvidas contra a covid-19 sejam parte de um plano para reduzir a população

War die Corona-Pandemie geplant - und das Virus möglicherweise im Labor entwickelt? Ein Video, das im Messengerdienst Telegram und auf Facebook kursiert, legt das nahe - und zeigt ein vermeintliches «Manuskript».

Publisher’s rating: Das Video führt die Titel verschiedener Studien zur Forschung an Coronaviren seit dem Jahr 1968 auf. Einen Beleg für eine «Entwicklung» des neuartigen Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 stellt die Auflistung nicht dar.

The claim concerns a video shared on Telegram and Facebook that presents a purported “manuscript” as evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned and that SARS-CoV-2 may have been developed in a laboratory. The DPA examined the list shown in that video, including its filenames and the studies those entries referred to. Its first entry linked “Virology_Coronaviruses.pdf” to 1968; the review identified an actual paper, “Coronaviruses,” published that year in Nature under the virology section. That paper described the discovery of a new group of viruses, named for their crown-like appearance, and listed virologist June Almeida as an author. The other entries likewise pointed to research on coronaviruses, rather than establishing the creation of SARS-CoV-2. The DPA gives examples from 1972 and 1983, and a 2004 study concerning SARS. It reports that these studies were openly accessible online and were not secret documents. Although the review says the list’s creator was unclear, it describes the list as documenting research over time, not deliberate laboratory development. The review also reports that the Robert Koch Institute said the first patients were thought to have been infected in early December 2019 at a market in Wuhan, while noting that credible reports of laboratory development were lacking.

In sozialen Netzwerken und Blogs behaupten viele Nutzer, nur ein Bruchteil der Corona-Toten in den USA sei tatsächlich auf Covid-19 zurückzuführen. Dies würden offizielle Zahlen der amerikanischen Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) belegen. «Das CDC stellte jetzt fest, dass statt 161.000 nur 9.600 Amerikaner tatsächlich an Covid-19 gestorben seien – also nur 6 % der ursprünglich genannten Zahl», heisst es in einem Post.

Publisher’s rating: Diese Behauptung ist falsch. Die Daten auf der Webseite der CDC zeigen, dass bei sechs Prozent der Fälle in den USA Covid-19 als einzige Todesursache angegeben wurde. In 94 Prozent der Fälle wiesen die gestorbenen Personen eine oder mehrere Vorerkrankungen auf oder es wurden weitere Todesursachen - neben Covid-19 - genannt.

In een post op Facebook wordt beweerd dat "alle Politie agenten van Nederland" het omstreden medicijn chloroquine krijgen dat "zij al preventief innemen". Dat "werkt uitstekend. Géén één agent heeft Corona!"

Publisher’s rating: De eerste stelling is fout. Er wordt geen chloroquine verstrekt aan de politie. Over de tweede stelling ("geen agent heeft corona") worden geen cijfers bekendgemaakt, maar er is ook niets wat erop wijst.

Maior estudo retrospectivo em pacientes hospitalizados mostra que a hidroxicloroquina reduz significativamente o risco de mortalidade por covid-19

Publisher’s rating: Enganoso: O estudo foi feito com base em prontuários de pacientes hospitalizados e que estavam em diversos estágios da doença. Uma das autoras do artigo, disse ao Comprova que, apesar dos resultados, são necessários estudos clínicos mais avançados para comprovar eficácia da hidroxicloroquina