Pablo Rougerie

Science Editor

Pablo obtained his PhD in Immunology from the University Paris - Descartes (France). He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, U.S.) and at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His research focused on different topics in cell biology, including the regulation of T lymphocyte activation, the mechanics of cell deformation, and the use of biomaterials of specific geometry to guide the growth of biological tissues.

The Science Feedback team

CLAIM REVIEWS

Steve Kirsch promotes flawed study making false claim about COVID-19 vaccines and cancer risk

CLAIM
“Pathologist reports a stunning 52% increase in cancer risk for ages 15-59 who were vaxxed”

SOURCE: Steve Kirsch, Ivana Pavic, Substack, Instagram, Twitter

Published: 18 Mar 2024

VERDICT

CDC analysis of RSV vaccines data showed vaccines are safe, not associated with excess deaths, contrary to claim by Children’s Health Defense

CLAIM
RSV vaccines are linked to deaths and neurological disorders; the CDC glossed over reports of deaths among vaccinated individuals

SOURCE: Michael Nevradakis, Children's Health Defense

Published: 14 Mar 2024

VERDICT

Vaccines, treatments reduced public health threat posed by COVID-19, explaining different approach in 2024 compared to 2020

CLAIM
COVID-19 has been like the flu since the beginning of the pandemic

SOURCE: Instagram Users, Instagram

Published: 07 Mar 2024

VERDICT

The level of aluminum in childhood vaccines is safe, even for babies

CLAIM
Per FDA guidelines, babies are too small to safely handle the amount of aluminum in childhood vaccines

SOURCE: Instagram Users, Instagram

Published: 28 Feb 2024

VERDICT

France passed a law targeting health-threatening psychological manipulation and influence, but didn’t criminalize criticism of mRNA vaccines

CLAIM
“France will send citizens to jail if they question mRNA vaccines”; “It’s now a crime in France to oppose the mRNA vax”

SOURCE: Social media users, Instagram

Published: 23 Feb 2024

VERDICT

False-positive HIV tests don’t imply that a person is immunodeficient, contrary to claim by Peter McCullough

CLAIM
“The HIV test can turn positive after COVID-19 as well as the vaccine”; “maybe a form of immunodeficiency is there”

SOURCE: Peter McCullough, Rumble, Instagram

Published: 30 Jan 2024

VERDICT

Johns Hopkins report on the 2025 SPARS pandemic isn’t evidence that an upcoming pandemic is being planned

CLAIM
“they already have the pandemic planned”; “there’s an 89-page pdf about how they’ll push everything”

SOURCE: Social media users, Instagram

Published: 15 Jan 2024

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause leprosy, aren’t responsible for leprosy cases in Florida

CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines cause leprosy

SOURCE: Social media user, Instagram

Published: 11 Jan 2024

VERDICT

Scam ads use a fake endorsement by Ben Carson to promote unproven hypertension treatment

CLAIM
Ben Carson endorsed CBD gummies and “3 completely natural ingredients” to cure hypertension

SOURCE: Anonymous, Facebook

Published: 08 Jan 2024

VERDICT

Approved COVID-19 vaccines don’t contain HIV proteins and don’t cause AIDS, contrary to claim misquoting BBC documentary

CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines contain proteins from HIV; “if you have taken the third dose, go and take a test for AIDS, then sue your government”

SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook

Published: 27 Dec 2023

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

“Disease X”: How pandemic preparedness talks spawned conspiracy theories online

— 14 Feb 2024

On 17 January 2024, public health experts including Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), held a roundtable titled “Preparing f...

Variations on a theme: The evidence refuting the false claim that vaccines cause autism

— 11 Dec 2023

Introduction One of the most enduring narratives about vaccine safety is the alleged link between childhood vaccination and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A study published in 202...

What do we know about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA in breast milk?

— 03 Oct 2023

Introduction A study by Hanna et al. published in September 2023 reported the presence of mRNA from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in the breast milk of some lactating women[1]. This study...

Can mistletoe cure cancer?

— 16 May 2023

Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. In 2020, an estimated 19.3 million new cancers were diagnosed and about 10 million people died from the disease[1]. B...

What can explain the excess mortality in the U.S. and Europe in 2022?

— 02 Nov 2022

image source Introduction Every day, people die of many causes: diseases, accidents, violence, or simply old age. The number of deaths in any given country is usually stable from o...

What do we know about the possible link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism?

— 01 Aug 2022

Photo by Freepik Each week, approximately 23% of the adult U.S. population use a fever reducer and painkiller, such as Tylenol, which is the brand name for the drug acetaminophen, ...

Assessing the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality: a story of confounding factors and their role in COVID-19 misinformation

— 15 Mar 2022

Introduction COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in our fight against the pandemic and our return to a normal life, thanks to their ability to reduce the number of cases, hosp...

Could scientists use the bat coronavirus RaTG13 to engineer SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a lab?

— 19 Mar 2021

One of the biggest outstanding questions of the COVID-19 pandemic is the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the disease. One idea, put forward by some news sites...