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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
La vidéo d'une femme d’âge mûr, masquée, allongée sur un brancard d’hôpital recouvert de plastique circule dans les réseaux sociaux. Selon la légende, qui accompagne la vidéo, cette patiente respirant difficilement a été déclarée morte du coronavirus par le corps médical. Sa famille, inquiète, n’a pas accepté la fatalité et s’est rendue à la morgue. « Ils ont dézippé le sac mortuaire et l'ont trouvée encore en vie », lit-on.
Publisher’s rating: L’histoire diffusée sur les réseaux sociaux est fausse. Le bureau de presse de l’Etat du Pará, au Brésil a, par ailleurs, démenti les faits au travers d’un communiqué de presse.
The review addresses the specific story attached to a video of an older woman on a hospital stretcher: that medical staff declared her dead from coronavirus, after which her family found her alive in a morgue. It traces the footage to Belém, Brazil, and says the Pará state government issued an official denial of that account. The government said the woman was admitted to Abelardo Santos Hospital in serious condition on May 4 and died of coronavirus the following day. The central evidence contradicting the claim is the authorities’ account of what happened to the patient: the review reports that they said she was never sent to the morgue alive. It also addresses a visual detail used to support the story. According to the authorities, the plastic item seen in the video was equipment used to transfer a patient between stretchers, a common hospital practice, rather than a morgue body bag. The review describes its image-checking step: a reverse image search using a screenshot from the video led to Brazilian websites. It identifies reporting by BBC Brasil and the Brazilian fact-checking outlet Lupa as locating the story in Belém, and points to the Pará authorities’ public statement. The excerpt does not provide independent medical records or describe interviews with the patient’s family, so the reported account rests on the official statement and the cited reporting.
WHO requires immediate cremation of COVID-19 fatalities
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
14,000 patients in Italy recover and are sent home every day
Publisher’s rating: False
दिल्ली के सुल्तानपुरी एस ब्लॉक में जमात के 48 कोरोना पॉजिटिव मरीज़ छिपे मिले
Publisher’s rating: Partly False
El coronavirus crece y se multiplica en aguas residuales
Publisher’s rating: Falso
உலக சுகாதார அமைப்பில் (WHO) இருந்து வெளியேறுகிறது மடகாஸ்கர். மடகாஸ்கர் இந்த கொரோனா தொற்றுக்கு இயற்கை மூலிகைகளின் மூலம் தீர்வு கண்டிருக்கிறது. இந்த மருந்து (Covid -Organics) தோல்வி அடைய அதில் விசத்தை கலக்குமாறு WHO $20 மில்லியன் லஞ்சம் தர முன்வந்ததாக குற்றம் சாட்டியுள்ளார். உலக சுகாதார அமைப்பின் (world Health Organization) முகத்திரையை கிழிந்து கொண்டு இருக்கிறது.
Publisher’s rating: Fake
Claim: Has kerala bought cctv cameras to monitor covid 19
Publisher’s rating: FALSE
Op sociale media duiken regelmatig berichten op die sigaretten en nicotine naar voren schuiven als beschermingsmiddel tegen corona. Volgens een artikel van de regionale omroep Omroep Zeeland zouden rokers minder vaak besmet raken met het coronavirus en zou nicotine beschermend werken. Daarvoor baseren ze zich op een Engelse studie, maar de feiten blijken toch anders te liggen.
Publisher’s rating: Het artikel van Omroep Zeeland, en bijgevolg ook de berichten op sociale media, zijn misleidend. Wetenschappelijk onderzoek toonde aan dat rokers juist meer ernstige gevolgen ervaren van Covid-19. Over de rol van nicotine als mogelijk beschermingsmiddel is nog niets bewezen.
Italia ha encontrado la cura para el coronavirus
Publisher’s rating: Falso
The claim concerns messages circulating in Spain that said Italy had found a cure for coronavirus. Newtral examined two versions of those messages, which also asserted that COVID-19 was caused by a bacterium rather than a virus and could be treated with aspirin or other drugs. The review states that no such cure had been discovered and identifies COVID-19 as an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It also says the messages’ claims about 5G and the disease were unsupported: the virus does not travel through electromagnetic waves or mobile-phone networks. The review addresses the treatment claim separately. It reports that thrombosis can occur as a complication in some people with COVID-19, but that this does not mean the disease itself is thrombosis or that aspirin cures it. Newtral quotes pulmonologist Javier García, who explains that clotting problems can arise in severe cases and that symptoms vary with the clinical picture and affected organ. The article also notes that disseminated intravascular coagulation can result from systemic infection, including coronavirus infection; it does not say that every patient with COVID-19 develops thrombosis. As further context, the review says the World Health Organization’s guidance treats thrombosis as a possible complication in critical COVID-19 cases and recommends heparin to help prevent complications. It distinguishes that use of an anticoagulant from the messages’ claim that aspirin, antibiotics or anti-inflammatories cure COVID-19. The evidence presented therefore challenges the central claim as well as the accompanying explanation and proposed treatment.
Virus Corona Covid-19 tidak berbahaya dan tidak menyebabkan kematian
Publisher’s rating: Sesat
El coronavirus no es un virus, sino una bacteria
Publisher’s rating: Falso
Newtral examined messages circulating on WhatsApp and social media that claimed, among other things, that the illness was caused by a bacterium instead of a virus. The review says one message attributed this supposed discovery to Italian doctors who had performed autopsies. It identifies COVID-19 as an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a virus in a broader family of viruses, and notes that such viruses were known before the Wuhan outbreak in December 2019. The article also addresses a related version of the claim that 5G radiation amplified the supposed bacterium. It reports that there was no scientific evidence for theories linking 5G networks to the coronavirus or harmful health effects, and says the virus does not travel through electromagnetic waves or mobile-phone networks. These points distinguish the claim about the disease’s cause from the accompanying unsupported 5G explanation. The messages further presented thrombosis and treatment with aspirin or other drugs as evidence for their account. Newtral’s discussion does not treat thrombosis as proof that COVID-19 is bacterial: it reports that thrombosis can be a complication in some cases, and quotes a physician explaining that disseminated intravascular coagulation is classically associated with bacterial infections but can also result from coronavirus infection. The article therefore distinguishes a possible complication from the cause of the disease.
Das Tragen von Masken zur Bedeckung von Mund und Nase ist nach Überzeugung von Kritikern gefährlich. Ihr Argument lautet, die Masken würden mehr Kohlendioxid und weniger Sauerstoff im Blut verursachen. Dies wird mit dem Wiedereinatmen der eigenen verbrauchten Atemluft begründet. Ein Praktischer Arzt aus der Steiermark behauptet laut einem auf Facebook geteilten Foto, Masken förderten Lungenkrankheiten
Publisher’s rating: Richtig ist, dass Menschen mit bestimmten Lungen-Erkrankungen vom Tragen von Masken abgeraten wird. Es gibt aber keinen Beleg dafür, dass Masken Lungenkrankheiten fördern oder dass sie gefährlich oder unwirksam sind.
The review examines a Facebook post shared under the heading “Medizinische Information Covid-19-LV,” attributed to a general practitioner in Fürstenfeld, Styria. Among its claims, the post argued that breathing under a mask could raise carbon dioxide and lower oxygen in the blood, and that reduced ventilation of the lungs would promote lung disease. The review addresses those specific claims rather than mask concerns in general. Evidence presented in the article includes expert comments and a discussion of a medical thesis and guidance for people with respiratory conditions. (S1: “In einem Facebook-Posting werden mit Bezug auf einen Praktischen Arzt aus Fürstenfeld unter der Überschrift «Medizinische Information Covid-19-LV»”; “In Punkt 1 wird behauptet, das Einatmen der ausgeatmeten Luft unter der Mundschutz-Maske reichere das Blut mit Kohlendioxid und Stickoxid an.”) The review notes that a 2004 thesis found a slight increase in blood carbon dioxide after surgical-mask use, but did not find increased breathing frequency or a decline in oxygen saturation. The thesis’s author, Ulrike Butz, cautioned that health impairment could not be inferred from that work. The article also reports the German Respiratory League’s distinction between professional FFP2/FFP3 masks, which can create substantial breathing resistance, and loose surgical or homemade coverings, for which a carbon-dioxide increase was considered unlikely. (S1: “Eine Erhöhung der Atemfrequenz oder ein Abfall der Sauerstoffsättigung wurde dabei aber nicht nachgewiesen.”; “Man kann aus der Arbeit keine gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigungen ableiten. Das wäre unseriös.”; “Hingegen sei bei einem einfachen chirurgischen Mundschutz oder einer selbst hergestellten Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung ein Anstieg des Kohlendioxids unwahrscheinlich, weil diese Masken nicht völlig dicht seien.”) On the post’s assertion that masks promote lung disease, the review quotes Önder Yildirim, director of the Institute for Lung Biology at Helmholtz Zentrum München. He said there were no studies showing that masks cause lung disease, and explained that fatigue from increased effort when breathing does not mean a disease is being promoted. The article also records qualifications: experts advised that some people with serious pre-existing conditions, including chronic respiratory weakness, may experience discomfort or difficulty breathing and may need medical advice about mask use. (S1: “Es gibt keine Studien darüber, dass eine Maske eine Lungenerkrankung verursachen würde.”; “Aber die Müdigkeit bedeutet nicht, dass eine Krankheit gefördert wird.”; “Lediglich Menschen mit schweren Vorerkrankungen sollten nach Ansicht der Experten möglicherweise auf das Tragen eines Mundschutzes verzichten.”)