Skip to main content

PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

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

13,677 published reviews in this topic

Pagella PoliticaHealth & medicine

«[Per l'emergenza coronavirus] Non abbandonate i vostri animali. Non c'è alcun motivo valido»

Publisher’s rating: Vero

The review examines Environment Minister Sergio Costa’s 26 March Facebook appeal not to abandon pets during the coronavirus emergency. It treats the appeal as having two related points: that pets should not be abandoned, and that fear of them transmitting the virus did not provide a valid reason to do so. The review notes that Civil Protection Department head Angelo Borrelli had made a similar appeal on 19 March, while rejecting the possibility that pets, particularly dogs, could transmit the infection. For its assessment, the article reports the positions of Italy’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). The ministry said there was then no scientific evidence that companion animals such as dogs and cats had contracted or could spread the infection. The WHO likewise said there was no evidence that a dog, cat, or other pet could transmit Covid-19, while describing transmission primarily through droplets produced by infected people coughing, sneezing, or speaking. The article also reports that Higher Health Council president Franco Locatelli considered the risk of droplets being carried on pets’ paws “absolutely marginal.” The review addresses reported animal infections rather than treating a positive test as proof of onward transmission. It describes a 17-year-old Pomeranian in Hong Kong that tested positive and was quarantined, but says the dog showed no Covid-19 symptoms; the cited One Health Center of Excellence considered it very unlikely that Covid-19 caused the dog’s death after quarantine, and said the cause was unknown. It also notes a second dog, a German Shepherd, that tested positive after its owner contracted Covid-19; the review says this case was still being monitored and had not raised particular concern. On the evidence it reports, the review found no evidence that pets could infect their owners, while separately stressing that even a possibility of transmission would not justify abandonment.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

COVID-19 patients will not show symptoms for the first 14 days

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media video asserting that people affected by COVID-19 would not show symptoms during the first 14 days. The review distinguishes the possible length of the incubation period from the claim that symptoms are absent throughout that entire period. It reports that the World Health Organization’s stated range was 1–14 days, while the most common timing was around five days. Those figures do not support a universal 14-day symptom-free interval. [S1: “A video is being shared widely on social media in which a person claims that the people affected by COVID-19 will not show symptoms for the first 14 days.”; “On the WHO website, it can be read that the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days. But, most commonly COVID-19 patients show symptoms in around five days.”] The review says it checked the WHO website and defines the incubation period as the time between contracting the virus and showing symptoms. It quotes the WHO estimate that the period most commonly lasts around five days, although estimates range from 1–14 days. A range ending at 14 days describes variation; it does not mean patients will all remain symptom-free until day 14. [S1: “When searched about the incubation period (i.e. the time between contracting the virus and showing symptoms of the disease) for COVID-19, on the WHO website, it can be read that ‘most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days’.”] As additional support, the review cites David Ho, described as a Caltech trustee and viral-epidemics expert, who gave a typical onset window of four to six days and said that onset outside three to ten days was rare when covering 95–98 percent of cases. It also mentions a study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, but the excerpt gives no study details or results beyond saying it found a similar timeframe. The review’s conclusion is that symptom onset after 14 days is very rare—not that symptoms are absent for the first 14 days. [S1: “The incubation period from exposure to onset of symptoms is between four and six days; and if you want to cover 95–98 percent of the cases it is between three and 10 days. It’s pretty rare to have an incubation period outside of that range”; “A similar timeframe was also found in a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.”; “To sum it up, it is very rare for COVID-19 patients to show symptoms after 14 days.”]

YouturnHealth & medicine

அடுத்த ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை ரோச் மெடிக்கல் கம்பெனி தடுப்பூசியை வெளியிட உள்ளதாகவும் மற்றும் அதற்காக மில்லியன் கணக்கில் டோஸ்கள் தயார் செய்ய உள்ளதாகவும் ட்ரம்ப் நேரடியாக அறிவித்துள்ளார்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

YouturnHealth & medicine

Dr.LiWenliang சீனாவின் ஹீரோ டாக்டர். கொரோனா வைரசை முதன்முதலாக கண்டுபிடித்ததற்காக சீன அரசினால் தண்டிக்கப்பட்டு தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டவர். அதே வைரசினால் பீடிக்கப்பட்டு அநியாயமாக பலியெடுக்கப்பட்டவர். ஆனால் அந்த கதாநாயகன் இடைப்பட்ட சிறு காலத்தில் தனது மனிதநேயமிக்க திறன்வாய்ந்த ஆராய்ச்சிகள் மூலம் அதற்கு தீர்வையும் விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கிறார். ஆம் Covid-19 என்ற அரக்கனின் ஆற்றலை கொன்றுவிடும் ரசாயனங்களான Methylxthine, Theobromine மற்றும் theophyline ஆகியவை கொரோனாவிட்கு எதிரான நோய் எதிர்ப்பு சக்தியை அதிகரித்து அதனை கட்டுப்படுத்துகிறது என்ற குறிப்பை இவ்வுலகிற்கு விட்டுச் சென்றார். இதில் வியப்பான விடயம் என்னவெனில் அந்த மூன்று ரசாயனங்களும் செரிந்திருப்பது நாம் தினமும் அருந்தும் Tea எனும் பானத்தில்தான். தேயிலை செடி இந்த இரசாயனங்களை உற்பத்தி செய்தி அதனை அண்டவிடாமல் உயிர்களை காக்கிறது. இதனைத் தெரிந்து கொண்ட சீன வைத்தியர்கள் வைத்தியசாலைகளில் தினமும் மூன்று வேளை தேநீர் வழங்கி பெருமளவிலான நோயாளிகளை குணப்படுத்தி விட்டார்கள். இறுதியில் இந்த pandemic நோயின் மையமான wuhan முழுமையாக கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் கொண்டுவரப்பட்டது. இதனை பகிருங்கள் தீர்வு உங்கள் சமையல் அறையிலேயே இருக்கிறது

Publisher’s rating: Fake

APA - Austria Presse AgenturHealth & medicine

Kuba hat einige Ärzte nach Italien geschickt, um das Land im Kampf gegen Covid-19 zu unterstützen. In einem Video ist zu sehen, wie die Ärzte bei ihrer Ankunft in Italien mit Applaus begrüßt wurden.

Publisher’s rating: Diese Behauptung ist nur zum Teil wahr. Zwar wurden tatsächlich kubanische Ärzte und Krankenschwestern nach Italien geschickt, im Video sieht man aber keinen italienischen Flughafen, sondern den Flughafen der kubanischen Hauptstadt Havanna.