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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

13,676 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Risk percentage of Community Transmission of COVID-19 for various states in India. Telangana has a high risk of 122%

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined a social-media infographic titled “Risk of Community Transmission of COVID-19,” which attributed a 122% risk to Telangana. Its central finding was that this percentage was not a scientifically grounded estimate: the calculation used a formula with no scientific basis and relied on figures reportedly drawn from the Aarogya Setu app, which not everyone used. The review compared the Telangana quarantine figure used in the calculation—around 3,000—with a state-government press note reporting 1,99,465 people in containment zones. It said that figure was roughly 60 times larger. The review also recalculated the metric using the government’s figures and reported a result of about 2.2%, using data as of 22 June 2020. These discrepancies undercut the infographic’s presentation of 122% as a meaningful measure of community-transmission risk. The review included an important qualification about the infographic’s intended meaning. It reported that its creator later said the graphic compared quarantined people with active cases, was not a prediction, and used a “super rough” metric. The review’s criticism focused on the unsupported risk framing and the data used to produce it; the creator’s clarification does not validate 122% as a scientifically established risk estimate.

NewtralHealth & medicine

Las candidatas a vacuna de la COVID-19 van a introducir microchip

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review examines a viral message presented as a conversation among friends. One participant purportedly says they work at a laboratory researching a COVID-19 solution and are being made to design a vaccine so that a capsule can be introduced with it; the message suggests the capsule could be a chip used for control. The review says this message joined other claims that COVID-19 vaccine candidates would carry microchips, and traces those claims to a misinterpretation of a response by Bill Gates on Reddit. The review distinguishes Gates’s actual remarks from the conspiracy claim. It says he did not state that microchips could be put into vaccines. Rather, his comments concerned the possible use of digital certificates to show recovery, recent testing, or vaccination. It also recounts that at a virtual press conference on June 3, Gates said he had nothing to do with microchips and that his foundation invested in buying vaccines. The review further notes that conspiracy claims continued circulating, including remarks by José Luis Mendoza at a June 13 celebration of Saint Anthony of Padua. The review also addresses a real research project that could be confused with the microchip allegation. A study published in 2019 investigated invisible under-skin markings made from light-sensitive microparticles, called quantum dots, which could be read using a modified smartphone to indicate vaccination status. The review stresses that a microparticle is not a microchip, that the project had only been tested in mice, and that the marking was described as lasting five years. It therefore treats the existence of this separate research as no evidence that vaccine candidates would contain microchips.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Un message publié sur Facebook le 21 juin, sous un titre accrocheur - « Faire l’amour avec un masque (et autres choses à ne pas faire en 2020) » - soutient que l’OMS s’est perdue en contradictions, sur le port du masque en période de pandémie de Covid-19. « D’abord, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé a dit : ne portez pas de masque. Puis ils ont dit : il faut porter un masque. Et puis : les masques ne servent pas à grand-chose. »

Publisher’s rating: Les orientations de l’OMS sur le port du masque – en général - ont évolué, en fonction des progrès accomplis dans le domaine de la recherche sur le coronavirus. Mais jamais l’organisation internationale n’a décrété qu’il ne faut pas porter de masques, avant, soi-disant, de se raviser.

The review examines a Facebook post in Belgium dated June 21, 2020. The post said the World Health Organization (WHO) had first told people not to wear masks, later told them to wear masks, and then said masks did little. The review says the post distorted the organization’s guidance: its advice changed as scientific research and the pandemic situation developed, but the WHO had not first issued a blanket instruction not to wear masks. To assess the first part of the claim, the review describes the WHO’s April 6 interim guidance. For healthy people in community settings, it said there was not then enough evidence to recommend for or against wearing masks; it also said medical masks and respirators should be prioritized for health workers. That is different from an instruction not to wear a mask. The review then contrasts that guidance with the June 5 update. In light of research, easing of lockdowns, and mass gatherings, the WHO encouraged national authorities to promote public mask use in areas of known or suspected community transmission, including certain public places. The advice was conditional, not a universal instruction to wear a mask in every circumstance. The review also says WHO guidance did not address mask-wearing during sex, the subject suggested by the post’s title.

NewtralHealth & medicine

Bill Gates ha dicho que la vacuna de la COVID cambiará permanentemente tu ADN

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns an alleged statement by Bill Gates that a COVID-19 vaccine would permanently alter human DNA. Newtral traces the rumor to a Gates Notes blog post dated April 30, 2020. The review says Gates discussed RNA and DNA vaccine approaches there, but did not say they could permanently change human DNA. It describes his post as outlining vaccine candidates and his interest in the two approaches, rather than claiming a lasting change to people’s genes. The review explains that the RNA-vaccine approach it discusses would introduce messenger RNA into the cell’s cytoplasm, where it instructs cells to make viral proteins that can prompt an immune response. It cites geneticist Lluis Montoliu, who says this process occurs outside the cell nucleus. The review contrasts that with gene editing, explaining that CRISPR tools need to enter the nucleus to edit a genome, and says that is not needed for the COVID-19 vaccine approach described. It also distinguishes RNA vaccines from DNA-plasmid candidates: the latter involve introducing synthetic DNA molecules carrying part of a viral gene. These descriptions concern how experimental vaccine candidates work; they do not substantiate the claim that Gates said vaccination would permanently change DNA. Newtral’s conclusion is that the purported statement is not in the cited blog post and, according to the review, was not made in his other interventions or interviews.

WKMG - Trust IndexHealth & medicine

Is Florida really checking on NY-area travelers ordered to self-quarantine?

Publisher’s rating: Be careful

The review examined whether Florida was following up with travelers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who were required to self-quarantine for 14 days. The requirement came from Executive Order 20-82, enacted March 24, which also directed state officials to assist the Department of Health in enforcement. Travelers were asked to provide contact details on forms when entering Florida by air or road. News 6 sought enforcement figures from the Florida Department of Health, including through six emails, but the department did not provide a count. It had previously said it logged travelers’ contact information and regularly followed up, including wellness checks. The investigation also asked county health departments about their practices: Volusia reported calling more than 150 travelers arriving through Daytona Beach International Airport, while Osceola and Orange said they had not checked on travelers unless they showed symptoms. Orange County Health Department director Raul Pino said the county lacked capacity to check every traveler. The evidence did not show that no checks were happening statewide. Governor Ron DeSantis said state health officials and the National Guard had been involved and that some travelers had been followed up on, but he could not say whether Orange County travelers had been checked. His press secretary said Florida Highway Patrol conducted randomized checks. The agency reported nearly 900 checks statewide and close to 150 in Central Florida. The review’s findings therefore document some enforcement alongside limited county-level follow-up and an unanswered question about the total extent of checks; they do not establish that every traveler was monitored.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Al enkele dagen circuleert een animatiefilmpje op sociale media dat de regel van anderhalve meter in twijfel trekt. Ook econoom Ivan Van de Cloot deelde de video via Twitter. De makers van het filmpje, www.smartexit.nu, roepen met een petitie zelfs op om de regel af te schaffen. Volgens hen wordt het virus voornamelijk verspreid door uitgeademde microdruppeltjes, ook wel aerosolen genoemd. "Het gaat niet om de afstand, maar om lange tijd aerosolen te blijven inademen", claimt de video. Maar wat is daar juist van aan?

Publisher’s rating: De beweringen in de video zijn grotendeels misleidend. Hoewel het niet uitgesloten is dat het virus zich via aerosolen verspreidt, komen de meeste besmettingen volgens virologen nog steeds door contact en 'grotere' druppels. De regel van anderhalve meter is daarom wel noodzakelijk.