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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 image13,676 published reviews in this topic
Bubonic plague is airborne and can spread when an infected person coughs.
Publisher’s rating: Misleading
Research from related reporting distinguishes bubonic plague from pneumonic plague, the form associated with respiratory spread. Reuters describes bubonic plague as “the most common form, occurring chiefly when an infected flea bites a person,” while identifying pneumonic plague as an infection of the lungs that prompts patients to cough out infectious airborne droplets. This distinction contradicts the claim’s implication that bubonic plague itself is airborne and spreads through an infected person’s cough. The same Reuters account says plague can be transmitted between animals and humans through infected flea bites, inhalation of infected respiratory particles, and, rarely, ingestion of infectious materials. Its description of inhalation does not make that route specific to bubonic plague; its separate account of the three forms ties infectious airborne droplets to pneumonic plague. NPR-related reporting likewise says bubonic plague typically follows a flea bite, whereas bacteria spreading to the lungs cause pneumonic plague, which can pass between people through droplets. These excerpts address transmission routes and distinguish plague forms; they do not report a test of a particular patient or an investigation into the origin of the claim. They support the narrower conclusion that the claim conflates bubonic plague with pneumonic plague, rather than the claim that all plague is never transmitted by respiratory particles.
Auf Facebook wird in einem Posting ein Foto und ein Link zu einem Video der US-amerikanischen Epidemiologin Maria Van Kerkhove bei der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) geteilt. Daneben wird sinngemäß behauptet, die WHO sage, dass das Coronavirus nicht von Mensch zu Mensch übertragen werde und dass eine Quarantäne nicht notwendig sei.
Publisher’s rating: Das hat weder Maria Van Kerkhove noch jemand anderes während der gezeigten Pressekonferenz am 8. Juni 2020 gesagt. Van Kerkhove spricht in der Pressekonferenz ausdrücklich davon, dass Quarantäne ein wichtiger Bestandteil im Kampf gegen die Verbreitung des Coronavirus sei.
The Facebook post paired a photo and video link featuring WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove with the implication that the WHO said the coronavirus did not spread from person to person and that quarantine was unnecessary. The review identifies the footage as coming from a WHO press conference on 8 June 2020, where Van Kerkhove answered a Reuters journalist’s question about asymptomatic people in the pandemic. The review says the Facebook screenshot matches the press-conference video in its image, visible nameplate and clothing, and notes that the post linked to a video excerpt of the event. In her answer, Van Kerkhove said that evidence on asymptomatic transmission was still limited, but that it appeared to be rare for an asymptomatic person to pass on the virus. She said follow-up should focus especially on infected people with symptoms. The review also reports that she explicitly described quarantining contacts as an important means of limiting the virus’s spread—contrary to the post’s implication that quarantine was unnecessary. The review further states that human-to-human transmission was scientifically established and was not called into question at the press conference. Its account therefore distinguishes Van Kerkhove’s qualified discussion of transmission by asymptomatic people from the broader claim that the virus did not spread between people.
In den sozialen Netzwerken kursieren Postings, die suggerieren, dass bereits vor Jahrzehnten vor dem derzeit grassierenden Coronavirus gewarnt worden sei. In ihren Büchern «The Eyes of Darkness» (1981) sowie in «End of Days» (2008) hätten die US-amerikanischen Autoren Dean Koontz und Sylvia Browne das Virus vorhergesagt. Der Urheber eines Postings, «Anonymous Österreich», führt einen Zeitungsartikel über die Bücher als Beweis dafür an, dass die Regierung die Bevölkerung mit dem Coronavirus «verarscht».
Publisher’s rating: Es gibt keinen Beleg dafür, dass die Autoren das Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 vorhergesagt hätten und die österreichische Regierung in einem Zusammenhang damit steht. Das in «The Eyes of Darkness» beschriebene Virus hat mit Corona wenig gemeinsam, «End of Days» ist eine Aneinanderreihung von möglichen Zukunftsszenarien.
oop of monkeys inhabited a COVID-19 hospital in India.
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
The claim attached a video of monkeys inside a hospital to a COVID-19 hospital in India. FACTLY reports that its investigation identified the hospital in the video as RK Khan Hospital in Durban, South Africa, and says the monkeys were there in 2019—not in an Indian hospital treating COVID-19 patients. FACTLY describes checking screenshots from the post using reverse image search. It says this led to a similar video in a Daily Mail article from March 2019, which identified RK Khan Hospital, and that a Daily Express article showed the same video. The review reports that the monkeys had been in the Durban hospital for more than three months, climbing through open doors and stealing food from patients. The key context is therefore the mismatch in both location and time: the footage depicts a reported 2019 incident in South Africa, not the claimed COVID-19 hospital situation in India. FACTLY concludes that the claim is false.
tying a sack of spices and camphor can protect you from Covid-19
Publisher’s rating: False
First Check reports that a video claimed a pouch containing spices and camphor could ward off Covid-19, but says there was no scientific evidence that such a pouch could protect people. It notes that peppercorns’ antimicrobial properties do not make them a cure or protection against Covid-19.
Travellers must have a Covid-19 negative certificate
Publisher’s rating: False.
A diet of highly alkaline foods will defeat COVID-19.
Publisher’s rating: False
El vídeo de un hombre que usa un monitor de aire para demostrar que llevar la mascarilla implica falta de oxígeno
Publisher’s rating: Engañoso
Video of a suspected COVID-19 patient running away from doctors and police in Telangana
Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING
The claim concerns a video said to show a suspected COVID-19 patient running away from doctors and police in Telangana. FACTLY reports that the video does not show an incident in Telangana: it identifies the location as Pathanamthitta town in Kerala and says the man had recently arrived from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was supposed to be under quarantine. The review concludes that the post gives the video the wrong location and context. [S1: “The incident in the video took place in Kerala.”; “The man in the video came from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) recently and was supposed to be under quarantine.”] According to the review, the man was found by police roaming without a mask on Monday. It says that, after he refused to go into quarantine, health officials took him by force. These details describe the event shown, rather than an incident in Telangana. [S1: “On Monday, the Police found him roaming without a mask.”; “As the man has refused to go into quarantine, he was forcibly taken by the health officials.”] FACTLY says it checked the video’s location by running screenshots through Google Reverse Image Search, which led it to the same video on The New Indian Express’s YouTube channel. The channel’s description placed the incident in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, and gave the quarantine-related details. This comparison supports the review’s finding that the video was real but misrepresented as showing an event in Telangana. [S1: “When the screenshots of the video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, a similar video was found in the search results.”; “The New Indian Express’ has posted the same video on its YouTube channel on 6 July 2020.”; “In the description of the video, it can be read that the incident in the video took place in Pathanamthitta town (Kerala).”]
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has a pH level between 5.5 and 8.5.
Publisher’s rating: False
Após meses observando o desenvolvimento da Covid-19 em vários países, a comunidade médica internacional encontra uma estratégia de tratamento definitiva
Publisher’s rating: Enganoso: Não há consenso da comunidade médica internacional sobre uma estratégia de tratamento resolutiva para a covid-19 defendida em site lançado no Brasil. O Comprova também conversou com quatro das seis autoridades médicas citadas pelo site e nenhuma delas soube informar quem criou a página ou mesmo quem pagou para que fosse publicada
Médicos fazem texto para quem tem sintomas da Covid-19 e não quer ir ao hospital; tratamento inclui azitromicina, ivermectina e nitazoxanida
Publisher’s rating: FALSO: Recomendação contraria a orientação da ampla maioria das autoridades e entidades de saúde. A orientação para pessoas que apresentam sintomas de covid-19 é procurar assistência médica e não se automedicar
Pandemics happen once every century.
Publisher’s rating: False
Related research on pandemic preparedness gives estimates that do not fit the idea that pandemics occur only once per century. It reports that the probability of another pandemic within a person’s lifetime is roughly 17%, and could rise to 44% within the next couple of decades. It also says the chance in any given year is over 2%. These estimates describe a substantially more frequent risk than one pandemic per hundred years. The research does not predict the precise timing or cause of the next pandemic. It says it is difficult to determine which pathogen will cause one, and identifies zoonotic spillover—the transmission of disease from animals to humans—as a likely trigger for most viral pandemics in the 20th century. This is evidence about risk and historical patterns, not a guarantee that a pandemic will occur on a particular schedule.
No es sano respirar CO2 dióxido de carbono. "USO RACIONAL DE LAS MASCARILLAS"
Publisher’s rating: Falso
இனிப்பு கடையின் விளம்பரம், சின்னியம்பாளையம் மற்றும் வெள்ளலூரில் உள்ள கொரோனா வைரஸ் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட நோயாளிகள் மூலிகை மைசூர்பா உட்கொள்வதன் மூலம் ஒரு நாளுக்குள் குணமடைவார்கள் என்று கூறுகிறது. கொரோனா வைரஸ் நோயாளிகளுக்கு மூலிகை மைசூர்பா இலவசமாக தருவதற்காக அவர்களை அடையாளம் காண உதவுமாறு கூறுகிறது
Publisher’s rating: FALSE