PeakMetrics / Fact Checks
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 image13,676 published reviews in this topic
Coronavirus vaccines will change recipients' DNA and "the Covid-19 vaccines are designed to make us into genetically modified organisms."
Publisher’s rating: This is false. There are 25 different candidate vaccines in clinical trials around the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but none of them will alter human DNA
Vaccines killed 50 million people during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic
Publisher’s rating: This is false - there was no vaccine at the time.
Related reporting identifies the 1918 influenza pandemic as the event behind the estimated 50 million deaths: it says the strain “was more devastating than World War I, infecting one-third of the world and killing an estimated 50 million people.” The figure describes deaths from the pandemic, not deaths caused by a vaccine. The chronology addresses the central vaccine claim. The same report says that “In 1945, when the influenza vaccine was licensed,” it was mandated for active-duty service members. That places vaccine licensing well after the 1918 pandemic, contradicting the assertion that a vaccine killed people during that pandemic. A separate report likewise describes the 1918 pandemic as having killed an estimated 50 million people, but does not provide additional evidence about vaccine availability at the time.
மாதவிடாய் தொடர்ந்து வந்த நிலையில், கர்ப்பமான ஒரு மணி நேரத்தில் குழந்தை பெற்றெடுத்த அதிசயபெண்.
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
網傳：你一定要知道！吃「豬血」到底健不健康？這些好處與禁忌真的要清楚！豬血抗癌、防老人癡呆、預防動脈硬化、清除人體內的粉塵和有害金屬微粒
Publisher’s rating: 不實
Studies in other countries show “young children do not seem to spread the virus” and “don’t get sick.”
Publisher’s rating: Not the Whole Story
Home-made blend of onion, lemon and honey will not prevent a heart attack
Publisher’s rating: False
First Check reports that a viral video promoted the mixture as a way to prevent heart attacks and clear blockages. The review says there is no scientific evidence that it prevents heart attacks; it also notes that the mixture may cause gastritis or interact with blood thinners.
De PCR-test, de meest gebruikte coronatest, zou niet geschikt zijn voor dat doel. Een PCR-test is volgens de website 9fornews bedoeld om stukjes DNA te analyseren, "niet om virussen te detecteren". Ze baseren zich op een verklaring van de Bulgaarse Vereniging voor Pathologie en een artikel van de controversiële website offguardian. Maar wat is daar nu van aan?
Publisher’s rating: De beweringen zijn fout. PCR-tests zijn geschikt om iemand te testen op corona. Het is inderdaad zo dat een PCR-test DNA analyseert. Een virus is een klein deeltje genetisch materiaal, of DNA, verpakt in een eiwitomhulsel. Een PCR-test kan dus gebruikt worden om een virus te detecteren, en dus ook om een vermoedelijke patiënt te diagnoseren met het COVID-19 virus. Het is wel geen perfect middel.
അമേരിക്കയില് നിന്ന് വൈദ്യശാസ്ത്രം പഠിച്ചിട്ടും പൊള്ളാച്ചിയില് സര്ക്കാര് ആശുപത്രിയില് പാവങ്ങളെ സേവിക്കുന്ന ഡോ. ഫാത്തിമയുടെ ചിത്രം.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
অমিতাভ বচ্চনৰ ক’ৰনা টেষ্টৰ ৰিজাল্ট নিগেটিভ আহিছে
Publisher’s rating: মিছা
Testing for Covid-19 can return a positive result due to a cold or flu, or having received the flu vaccine in the past
Publisher’s rating: False
In Bayern hat es bisher sechs Ausbrüche von Covid19 an Schulen gegeben.
Publisher’s rating: Wahr. Auch wenn es deutlich mehr Infektionen mit Sars-CoV-2 an bayerischen Schulen gibt, sind es weniger Ausbrüche. Laut dem Infektionsschutzgesetz spricht man erst ab mindestens zwei Infektionen vom Ausbruch der Krankheit.
ചികിത്സയിലുണ്ടായിരുന്ന കോവിഡ് രോഗിക്ക് ഹൃദയാഘാതം സംഭവിച്ചപ്പോൾ പിപിഇ കിറ്റൊക്കെ ഊരിമാറ്റി രോഗിയുടെ വായിൽ സ്വന്തം വായ ചേർത്തുവച്ച് ശ്വസം നൽകി ജീവൻ രക്ഷിച്ച ഡോക്ടർ
Publisher’s rating: PARTLY FALSE
«Hör auf, dich testen zu lassen, wenn du nach 2021 leben möchtest», warnt ein Facebook-Post, der seit Tagen kursiert, vielfach geteilt und kommentiert wird. Gemeint ist der Corona-Test, dessen Grundlage zumeist ein Abstrich des Nasen-Rachen-Raumes ist. Die Einführung des Stäbchens sehr tief in die Nasenbahnen verursache nämlich nicht nur Schmerzen, sondern eine «hämato-enzephalische Barriereschädigung der Schädeltiefe», heißt es im Post weiter. So entstehe ein direkter Zugang zum Gehirn, durch den Bakterien ungehindert eindringen und lebensbedrohliche Entzündungen verursachen könnten. Eine mehrteilige Grafik, die veranschaulicht, wo der Abstrich entnommen wird und vermeintliche Verletzungen auftreten könnten, flankiert den Beitrag.
Publisher’s rating: Ein Nasenabstrich verursacht keine Schädigung der Blut-Hirn-Schranke. Das Hirngewebe ist zusätzlich von einer Knochenschicht umgeben, die ein Abstrichtupfer unmöglich durchbohren kann.
The post warned people not to take COVID-19 tests if they wanted to live beyond 2021, alleging that inserting a swab deep into the nose damages a barrier around the brain and lets bacteria enter. The dpa review identifies this as a claim about the nasopharyngeal swab used in COVID-19 testing, and reports that an accompanying graphic showed the sampling location and alleged injuries. The article’s medical explanation rejects the proposed route from the nose to the brain. [S1]
Only 8 people under 65 have died from Covid-19 in Ireland
Publisher’s rating: False
Missachtet die Kanzlerin die Maskenpflicht? Auf Facebook kursiert ein angeblich aktuelles Foto, das Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel in einem Berliner Supermarkt zeigt; sie trägt keine Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung. «Merkel geht einkaufen, ohne Maske und wir Idioten fallen auf die Panikmache rein», heißt es dazu im Posting.
Publisher’s rating: Das Foto entstand bereits am 22. März. Die Pflicht, beim Einkauf eine Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung zu tragen, gilt in Berlin erst seit dem 29. April 2020.
The Facebook post presented a photograph of Angela Merkel shopping in a Berlin supermarket as evidence that she was going out without a mask during a period when people were expected to wear one. The review identifies the image as a photograph published by the Bild newspaper on 22 March 2020, showing Merkel shopping in Berlin-Mitte. That date is central: the post’s implication that the photograph showed a current breach of the shopping mask rule is not supported by the image’s timing. Berlin’s rules also changed between the photograph and the later period implied by the post. The review says the city’s 22 March measures required people to keep at least 1.5 metres from others, but did not impose a mask requirement. Berlin introduced the requirement to cover one’s mouth and nose while shopping on 29 April 2020. Thus, the photograph predates the relevant rule as well as the post’s alleged context. The evidence supports a distinction between what the image shows and what the post claims about its timing: it shows Merkel shopping without a face covering on 22 March, when Berlin had not yet imposed a shopping mask requirement. It does not establish that she was shopping without one after that requirement took effect.