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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

COVID-19 vaccines provide important benefits; SSRN preprint didn’t find COVID-19 vaccines to be “98 times worse” than the virus
CLAIM
“Covid-19 Vaccines 98 Times Worse Than the Virus”

SOURCE: Jim Hoft, Jonas Vesterberg, Gateway Pundit, The Florida Standard

Published: 22 Sep 2022

VERDICT

Denmark didn’t ban COVID-19 vaccines for people under 50
CLAIM
Denmark banned COVID-19 vaccines for anyone under 50

SOURCE: Clay Travis, Toby Young, OutKick, Substack

Published: 18 Sep 2022

VERDICT

Study claiming that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 mortality by 92% has important methodological problems
CLAIM
“Ivermectin reduces COVID death risk by 92%, peer-reviewed study finds”; NIH now lists ivermectin as COVID-19 therapy

SOURCE: Paul Sacca, Robby Starbuck, Jake Shields, The Blaze, Facebook, Twitter

Published: 07 Sep 2022

VERDICT

No mercury or aluminum is present in vaccines; vaccine ingredients aren’t associated with disease
CLAIM
“We allow toxic metals such as aluminum and mercury in shots”

SOURCE: Mark Ghalili, Truth Social

Published: 03 Sep 2022

VERDICT

Insufficient evidence to support Kanye West’s claim that fluoride in toothpaste harms the pineal gland
CLAIM
“Did you use toothpaste with fluoride today? It blocks your pineal gland. And they put children on it.”

SOURCE: Kanye West, The Joe Rogan Experience

Published: 01 Sep 2022

VERDICT

No evidence for claim that excess folic acid causes ADHD; MTHFR gene variants are common, generally don’t cause health problems
CLAIM
Excess folic acid from food causes ADHD; folic acid is a dangerous chemical in food

SOURCE: Gary Brecka, Dropping Bombs

Published: 03 Aug 2022

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines don’t weaken the immune system; Lancet study misrepresented in Virology Journal comment
CLAIM
Lancet study showed that vaccinated people have lower immune function than unvaccinated people; COVID-19 vaccines suppress the immune system

SOURCE: Kenji Yamamoto, Tucker Carlson, The Hodgetwins, Fox News

Published: 28 Jul 2022

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of death from COVID-19; the vaccines don’t alter our DNA
CLAIM
Canadian data shows vaccinated people more likely to die from COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines alter our DNA; hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin cure COVID-19

SOURCE: Charlie Kirk, The Charlie Kirk Show

Published: 21 Jul 2022

VERDICT

Abortion can be medically necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman
CLAIM
“Abortion is never medically necessary”

SOURCE: Kendra Kolb, Live Action

Published: 09 Jul 2022

VERDICT

Studies show that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks; preprint claiming to show otherwise is flawed
CLAIM
“Covid Vaccines More Likely to Put You in Hospital Than Keep You Out”

SOURCE: Will Jones, The Daily Sceptic

Published: 01 Jul 2022

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

Germany-based network of websites and Facebook accounts amplify clickbait content to monetize web traffic via Google AdSense and e-commerce

— 08 Sep 2022

SUMMARY This investigation, which took place between May and August 2022, shows that a network of German- and English-language Facebook pages are using the platform to build an onl...

What do we know about the safety of titanium dioxide in menstrual hygiene products?

— 09 Aug 2022

Photo by Josefin on Unsplash Introduction Social media posts claiming that titanium dioxide in tampons are responsible for reproductive cancers began circulating in early August 20...

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...

Copypasta of an ICU doctor’s tweet stokes COVID-19 skepticism by mimicking bot-like behavior

— 29 Jul 2021

Introduction The spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has put many countries back on high alert. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have seen the Delta variant become the predominant ...

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...