Explainer: Why excessive cleanliness may be injurious to health 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have become increasingly paranoid about cleanliness. There is a growing tendency to purchase the strongest – and perhaps costliest – cleaning products, with taglines like ‘kills 99.99% germs’ and ‘kills novel coronavirus’.   

Dr.-Rohini-Karandikar

First Check Diaries by Dr. Rohini Karandikar

As a member of First Check, I feel like a warrior, fighting the infodemic. The pandemic showed us how people contracted,spread, or even succumbed to COVID-19 because they fell for false claims. However, COVID-19 is just one of the many catastrophes we have been battling. My fact-checking journey began in the year 2017, when I […]

Herbal remedies can cause liver injuries

Popular herbal medicines for COVID-19 have been reported to adversely affect the liver and kidney – at times, even leading to death.

Misinformation

WhatsApp forward claiming ‘Vaccinated People Will Die in 2 Years’ is untrue

A widely-circulated message attributed to French virologist Luc Montagnier claims that all vaccinated people will die in 2 years due to antibody-dependent enhancement. Dr. Rohini Karandikar, a science writer at the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) and member of the Indian Scientists’ Response to COVID-19 team, lays bare the facts.