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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

Boatos.orgHealth & medicine

Uma Notícia Excelente Senegal, um país africano, está usando a Cloroquina desde o primeiro caso da pandemia e teve apenas cinco mortes.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The viral post claimed that Senegal had only five COVID-19 deaths because it had used chloroquine since its first case. The review checked the figures against Senegal’s reported case and death totals, and compared the post’s explanation with reporting on the country’s public-health measures and how chloroquine was prescribed. It found that the five-death figure was not current: it described Senegal’s situation on April 21, 2020, when the country had 412 confirmed cases and five deaths. By June 17, the review reported more than 5,000 confirmed cases and 73 deaths. The review also examined whether chloroquine alone accounted for the early figures. Citing a report on Senegal’s response, it describes other measures: early border closures, rapid test results, hospitalization of all infected people, and strict isolation of their contacts. It says the report characterized chloroquine as having helped, but not as the sole explanation. Thus the post joined a dated statistic to a causal claim that the cited account did not support. The review adds that Senegalese doctors described chloroquine use as controlled rather than universal. It reports that a BBC article said treatment was supervised and prescribed in specific cases, and that an Agence France-Presse report quoted a Senegalese infectious-disease specialist saying it required the patient’s consent and a cardiogram beforehand. These details contradict the post’s depiction of chloroquine being used for every infected person. The review’s conclusion rests on both the outdated death count and the evidence that Senegal’s early response involved multiple measures and restricted treatment protocols.

BBC Reality CheckHealth & medicine

If you look at the proportion of people in the UK who have sadly died in care homes, it is significantly lower than comparable countries across Europe.

Publisher’s rating: It is particularly hard to compare coronavirus deaths is care homes with other countries because it is so sensitive to the amount of testing being carried aout. Also, a report from the ONS found that two thirds of non-Covid excess deaths had been due to dementia, Alzheimer's or a category called “symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions”, which generally indicates old age and frailty. It may be difficult to spot the symptoms of coronavirus if these people had in fact been infected.

RMIT ABC Fact CheckHealth & medicine

A COVID-19 Emergency Powers Act exists in Western Australia authorising the forcible testing and vaccination of children, including removing their underwear

Publisher’s rating: Not the full story

The social-media post claimed Western Australia had passed a “COVID-19 Emergency Powers Act” authorising officers to test and vaccinate children at school, even by removing their underwear. The investigation traced the post to a May 17, 2020 tweet and compared its claims with the state’s legislation. It found no WA law by the name “COVID-19 Emergency Powers Act”; the relevant powers were in sections 184 and 185 of the Public Health Act 2016, which had commenced in 2019 and had not been amended during the pandemic. The Act did give emergency officers powers, during a declared public-health emergency, to direct a person—including a child—to undergo medical examination, treatment or vaccination. Section 185 allowed reasonable force to ensure compliance, including removing clothing if necessary for the medical procedure. A public-health state of emergency had been declared in WA on March 23, 2020, and was in force when the tweet was posted. So the post referred to some genuine statutory powers, but misnamed the legislation and left out significant limits and safeguards. The review reports that force had not been used to compel compliance and section 185 had not been used. WA Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson said COVID-19 testing used nasal or throat swabs, so only clothing covering the nose or mouth would prevent testing. The legislation required clothing removal to be done “with decency and sensitivity,” and a parent or guardian had to be present when a child’s clothing was removed. The review therefore concluded the post gave a misleading picture: the powers existed in a different Act, were subject to safeguards and reasonableness, and did not mean children were being forcibly tested or vaccinated at school.

ComprovaHealth & medicine

O Center for Disease Control, órgão do governo dos EUA , oficializou algumas evidências científicas”sobre a transmissão do coronavírus

Publisher’s rating: Enganoso: Post associa tabela a um link para o Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), em inglês, mas nenhuma das informações que aparece na tabela está no texto publicado pelo órgão de saúde norte-americano. Pesquisadores alertam que ainda não há estudos suficientes para embasar o tipo de conclusão da postagem Perfi pessoal do Facebook

FactCheck.orgHealth & medicine

"The number of cases in Oklahoma — it’s declined precipitously."

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns Vice President Mike Pence’s June 15, 2020, statement at a Cabinet meeting that COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma had “declined precipitously.” The state was due to host President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa on June 20. The review checked the assertion against Oklahoma Health Department reporting and the state’s case counts; it reports that the department said cases were rising, not falling. [S1] The review’s excerpt identifies Pence’s statement and says directly, “That’s false.” [S1] The state’s weekly reports show increases in confirmed cases across successive reporting periods. For May 29 through June 4, the department reported 637 cases, an 8.0% increase over the previous week. For June 5 through June 11, it reported 719 cases, a 12.9% increase over the prior week. The review also cites the department’s description of an increase in cases and hospitalizations over the preceding two weeks, while deaths had remained approximately the same. [S1] Daily figures further support the direction of the trend: on June 16, the day after Pence’s remarks, Oklahoma recorded a then-single-day high of 228 new cases. The state’s total confirmed cases rose from 7,626 as of June 11 to 8,645 as of June 16—an increase of 1,019. These figures address the claim about cases specifically; the review separately discusses hospitalizations and deaths, which should not be conflated with the case count. [S1]

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaHealth & medicine

UK PM Boris Johnson stated that Sri Lankan methods of combating COVID-19 was the best, and UK should follow suit | ලංකාවේ කොරෝනා වැඩ පිළිවෙල බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ භාවිතා කල යුතු බවට අගමැති බොරිස් ජොන්සන් පවසයි

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigated a report circulating on aanduwa.lk and a Facebook page under the name niroshanarajapaksha. It said Johnson had described Sri Lanka’s approach as the best way to control COVID-19 and had urged UK health authorities to abandon their existing measures and follow it. The review notes that Johnson had himself contracted COVID-19 in March and was treated in intensive care, then says it checked whether he had made the alleged remarks. (S1) To check the claim, the publisher says it examined major international media reports about Johnson’s statements over the month after the story appeared on May 29. It reports finding no mention of Sri Lanka in those reports. The review also examined a video Johnson released after leaving hospital: according to its account, he praised the UK’s National Health Service, saying it had saved his life, and repeatedly thanked the health staff who cared for him. These checks address the alleged comments by Johnson, rather than merely comparing the two countries’ pandemic responses. (S1) The review further describes checking a separate statement by the British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka about UK–Sri Lanka cooperation to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. It says that statement did not propose that Britain adopt Sri Lanka’s pandemic measures. The publisher also reports asking the British High Commission, which said Johnson had not made the alleged statement. It concludes that the claim circulating in the posts and website was unsupported by the checks it describes. (S1)

Fact CrescendoHealth & medicine

ကိုရိုနာကပ်ရောဂါနဲ့ပတ်သက်ပြီး မိုင်းဖုန်းဆရာတော်ကြီးမိန့်ကြားတယ်

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined a widely shared report attributing pandemic predictions to the Mine Phone Sayadaw. The attributed statements included predictions that infections would reach 100 million worldwide, that 2020 and 2021 would be especially difficult, and that the pandemic would end after spreading severely in China. The review also says versions of the report had circulated earlier in April and were being shared again. These details identify the allegation as a specific attribution to the monk, rather than a general claim about the pandemic. [S1] As evidence against the attribution, the review reports that on June 14 a Facebook account named “Sao Su Kham” shared a post objecting to the false report and asking people to delete it. The post stated that the Mine Phone Sayadaw had not made the alarming statements. The review describes the account as sharing the monk’s religious activities and says its owner was a monk with close contact with him. On that basis, the article concludes that the claim that the Mine Phone Sayadaw made the predictions was false. [S1]

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

In een Facebook-post wordt gesteld dat inwoners van Nederland binnenkort geen toegang meer zouden krijgen tot hun werk, het openbaar vervoer en openbare gebouwen als zij niet beschikken over een "COVI-pas". Die pas van Britse makelij zou pas worden verstrekt na het ondergaan van een test op het nieuwe coronavirus. Dit verplichte paspoort zou er "onherroepelijk komen", twee Britse bedrijven zouden in juni 2020 al beginnen met de levering van het "digitale gezondheidspaspoort" aan tenminste 15 landen, waaronder Nederland. De posting is honderden keren op Facebook gedeeld.

Publisher’s rating: De stelling over een verplichte COVI-pas is fout. Er wordt wel gewerkt aan een COVI-pas, maar die wordt niet verplicht; het moet een gemaksartikel voor de burger worden om snel aan te kunnen tonen dat hij of zij een test heeft ondergaan.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturHealth & medicine

Kan je jezelf besmetten door je eigen bacteriën en CO2 in te ademen omdat lange tijd je een mondmasker draagt? Volgens een bericht dat al honderden keren gedeeld werd op Facebook lijkt het daar wel op. Volgens het verhaal zou een jonge vrouw de acute longaandoening ‘pleuritis’ hebben opgelopen door "8 uur per dag, 6 dagen op 7 een mondmasker te dragen". Maar hoe realistisch is dat?

Publisher’s rating: Hoewel het voorbeeld moeilijk te controleren valt, is het onmogelijk om jezelf te besmetten door je eigen CO2 en bacteriën in te ademen. Dat stellen verschillende artsen en virologen.

The review examines a Facebook account about a woman who reportedly worked in a supermarket while wearing a mask for eight hours a day, six days a week. The post said she fainted and was diagnosed in hospital with pleuritis, attributing it to oxygen deprivation and repeatedly breathing in carbon dioxide and her own bacteria. The review does not independently establish whether this woman’s case occurred; its assessment focuses on whether the proposed explanation is medically plausible. The article describes the example as difficult to verify and says the alleged self-infection mechanism is not possible. To assess that explanation, the review reports comments from pneumologist Piet Vercauter of OLV Hospital in Aalst, pulmonologist Eva Van Braeckel of Ghent University Hospital, virologist Steven Van Gucht, and the health fund Longfonds. Vercauter says infections that cause pleuritis generally come from outside the body, rather than from bacteria in a person’s normal flora. Van Braeckel explains that pleuritis is an inflammation of the membrane around the lungs and is not directly caused by inhaled air; it can occur as a complication of infections such as pneumonia. Longfonds and Van Gucht are also cited as saying pleuritis can arise in connection with other illness, including flu. The article distinguishes that account from the possibility that bacteria already present in the airways can cause illness when immune defenses are weakened. Van Gucht and Van Braeckel say the airways are not sterile and that bacteria are normally kept under control by the immune system, but they reject the claim that wearing a mask makes someone ill by causing them to inhale their own bacteria. Thus, the review challenges the post’s proposed cause, while leaving the specific woman’s reported diagnosis and circumstances unverified.