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Flora Teoh

Science Editor

Flora obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. During her doctoral studies, she examined how a human-colonising microbe could evolve in response to changes within a mammalian host, and how this process could influence microbial virulence. After a brief stint as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, she joined Health Feedback in 2018 as science editor.

The Science Feedback team

ARTICLE REVIEWS

Washington Times article by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro relies on inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about virus evolution, vaccine immunity, and COVID-19 vaccine safety

in Washington Times, by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro

— 15 Aug 2021

"This article has inaccuracies throughout with a clear view to push an anti-vaccine agenda. The picture depicting a skull with eyes and nose made of coronaviruses in the shape of t..

Misleading Wall Street Journal opinion piece makes the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. will have herd immunity by April 2021

in Wall Street Journal, by Marty Makary

— 26 Feb 2021

"The article’s claim that the U.S. is near herd immunity rests on two numbers: 1) the detection of infections by testing (claimed to be 10 – 25 percent) and 2) the infection fa..

New York Post article makes speculative, unsupported claim that mutation could enable the virus causing COVID-19 to evade handwashing and mask-wearing

in New York Post, by Jackie Salo

— 08 Oct 2020

"The preprint that the article focuses on actually says nothing about the most egregious claim made in the article: that the virus is evolving to get around hand-washing, masks, et..

Telegraph article describing the hypothesis that face masks can variolate a population receives mixed reviews on its scientific accuracy

in The Telegraph, by Georgina Hayes

— 24 Sep 2020

"The Telegraph headline is obviously misleading but the subheading is accurate. Masks don’t give immunity; rather, the argument is that infections are milder or asymptomatic and ..

Potential role for T cells in COVID-19 immunity accurately reported in National Geographic article

in National Geographic, by Carrie Arnold

— 19 Aug 2020

"The article accurately discusses the recent findings about the presence/relevance of T cell response against COVID-19. Indeed, both arms of adaptive immunity, humoral and cellular..

People who do not show symptoms can contribute to significant COVID-19 transmission, contrary to CNBC report

in CNBC, by William Feuer, Noah Higgins-Dunn

— 10 Jun 2020

there is already “abundant data” showing that people who are not showing symptoms—which could include asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and paucisymptomatic individuals—compris...

COVID-19 vaccine candidate by Pittsburgh scientists show promising results in animal studies, but clinical trials still needed before efficacy in humans is known

in Pittsburgh Magazine, by Garret Roberts

— 11 Apr 2020

Scientists who reviewed this article’s scientific credibility found that the reporting was generally accurate. However, they also highlighted a missed opportunity to provide read...

Viral New York Post article perpetuates the unfounded claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 is manmade

in New York Post, by Steven W. Mosher

— 02 Mar 2020

Overall, Mosher’s argument is based on unfounded speculation and scientific inaccuracies. Such claims, which continue to be perpetuated even by public officials, have real-world ...

New York Times accurately reports vaccine-derived polio outbreaks caused by low vaccine coverage

in New York Times, by Associated Press

— 02 Dec 2019

"The content of the article is correct: attenuated polio strain type 2 contained in the oral vaccine can – in very rare cases – mutate and cause disease in under-immunized pers..

Daily Mail article misleads with clickbait headline claiming cowpox-derived virus will “kill every type of cancer”

in Daily Mail, by Zoe Zaczek

— 20 Nov 2019

"This article substantially overhypes early pre-clinical work with a viral therapy that has not yet been tested in even the earliest stages of human clinical trials. The headline i..

CLAIM REVIEWS

“Fibers” in the iris of the eye aren’t associated with the strength of the immune system
CLAIM
“You can see the strength of the immune system from looking at the eyes"

SOURCE: Anonymous, Facebook

Published: 13 May 2022

VERDICT

No evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was engineered in a laboratory, contrary to claim by Li-Meng Yan
CLAIM
The SARS-CoV-2 virus was engineered in a laboratory and deliberately released

SOURCE: Li-Meng Yan, The Joe Hoft Show, Anon HQ

Published: 05 May 2022

VERDICT

No evidence supports claim that MTHFR gene influences the risk of side effects from vaccines and medications like Tylenol
CLAIM
Certain medicines and compounds like folic acid “deplete folate, which is very serious for those with MTHFR”

SOURCE: Kate Tietje, Modern Alternative Mama, Earthley

Published: 02 May 2022

VERDICT

Claim that squalene in vaccines causes autoimmune diseases and Gulf War Syndrome is unsubstantiated by evidence
CLAIM
Squalene in vaccines caused Gulf War Syndrome; the World Health Organization aims to depopulate the world with sterility-causing vaccines

SOURCE: Rima Laibow, Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura

Published: 26 Apr 2022

VERDICT

Claim by Mercola that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine causes immunosuppression is inaccurate, misrepresents study’s findings
CLAIM
“Pfizer Knew About Immunosuppression”; “Fully Vaxxed Are More Likely to Die From COVID”

SOURCE: Joseph Mercola, Mercola, The Epoch Times

Published: 21 Apr 2022

VERDICT

Fluoride in toothpaste effectively prevents tooth decay; it isn’t neurotoxic, contrary to online claims
CLAIM
“Toothpaste is poisonous”; “fluoride is a neurotoxin” and doesn’t prevent tooth decay

SOURCE: Charlotte Gerson, Facebook

Published: 13 Apr 2022

VERDICT

Vaccine-induced immunity is more reliable and safer than natural immunity; Fauci’s remarks in 2004 interview misinterpreted in social media posts
CLAIM
Fauci’s 2004 interview remarks about flu vaccine shows that natural immunity is best for COVID-19

SOURCE: Anonymous, FreedomWorks, Young Americans for Liberty

Published: 06 Apr 2022

VERDICT

Lack of oxygen isn’t the root cause of cancer; no scientific evidence for claims that oxygen or ozone therapy cures cancer
CLAIM
“Oxygen kills cancer”; Otto Warburg won two Nobel Prizes for proving lack of oxygen is the cause of cancer

SOURCE: Robert Barefoot, Kevin Trudeau, TikTok, Facebook

Published: 29 Mar 2022

VERDICT

There is no evidence of U.S.-funded bioweapon labs in Ukraine; claims to the contrary misrepresent the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
CLAIM
There are U.S.-funded bioweapon labs in countries surrounding Russia; “Pentagon Funded Bio-Weapons Labs in the Ukraine”

SOURCE: Social media users, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

Published: 11 Mar 2022

VERDICT

Ivermectin wasn’t shown to be more effective than remdesivir, contrary to claim by John Campbell
CLAIM
“In other words, you're about 70 percent less likely to die if you take ivermectin compared to taking remdesivir”

SOURCE: John Campbell, YouTube

Published: 10 Mar 2022

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

Shedding light on LinkedIn’s enforcement of health misinformation policies: A pilot study

— 26 Apr 2022

Summary of findings The career- and business-oriented social media platform LinkedIn has been absent from the public conversation around the topic of health misinformation, as comp...

Infection-induced immunity versus vaccine-induced immunity: Weighing the benefits and risks

— 03 Nov 2021

Introduction Multiple articles and social media posts have debated the strength of infection-induced immunity​​—commonly referred to as natural immunity—compared to vaccina...

Understanding causality in adverse events after vaccination

— 15 Jul 2021

Introduction Whether you’re watching the news or scrolling through your social media feeds, you’re certain to come across content about COVID-19 vaccines. This is unsurprising...

“Plandemic: Indoctornation” video rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines

— 20 Aug 2020

Plandemic is a pseudo-documentary produced by American filmmaker Mikki Willis, whose first instalment was published in May 2020. Featuring an interview with anti-vaccination activi...

Computing Forever interview with Dolores Cahill contains numerous inaccuracies about COVID-19 and vaccines

— 22 May 2020

This video, first published on 11 May 2020, features an interview between Dave Cullen, also known as Computing Forever on YouTube, and Dolores Cahill, a professor at University Col...

“Plandemic” vignette featuring anti-vaccination activist Judy Mikovits contains numerous false and unsupported claims about COVID-19

— 08 May 2020

This video is the first in a series of vignettes preceding a movie titled “Plandemic”. First published on 5 May 2020, it quickly went viral on Facebook, with more than 2.2 mill...

Did the COVID-19 virus originate from a lab or nature? Examining the evidence for different hypotheses of the novel coronavirus’ origins

— 24 Apr 2020

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, many hypotheses have been advanced to explain where the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) actually came from. Initial re...

Do radio waves from mobile devices cause cancer? A look at the evidence

— 08 Apr 2019

Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lives, and most people would not consider even leaving the house without one. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has est...

How we know vaccines don’t cause autism – and why this belief persists

— 26 Mar 2019

The claim that “vaccines cause autism” first received its scientific backing by Andrew Wakefield’s now-retracted study in The Lancet, published in 1998. The study...

The Most Popular Health Articles of 2018, a Scientific Credibility Review

— 28 Jan 2019

News about health and medicine touch the lives of many people, therefore they often become highly circulated on the Internet. Many of these articles achieve viral status, but how m...