An image purporting to show a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) article warning that breathing too many times a day could raise your risk of a heart attack is digitally altered. No such article was published by the BBC.
The BBC online masthead is seen on the upper-third of the image, while the fabricated headline reads: “Breathing too many times a day could raise your risk of a deadly heart attack.” The sub-headline said: “Trial found that people who breathe more than 5 percent above the daily average had a raise in blood pressure and increased risk of myocarditis.”
Users shared the screenshot as proof that the media is covering up side-effects caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
One individual who shared the image on Facebook said: “Or being part of an experiment and bullied by the government and press to get jabbed...” (here).
Another created a graphic on Instagram and said: “So this is how they’re going to normalize tens of thousands of people dying from myocarditis suddenly” (here).
Other examples of the image shared online can be seen (here), (here), (here), (here), (here), (here).
The image is not authentic, however, and was not published by the BBC.
Reuters did not find any such article published on the BBC News website (www.bbc.com/news), (archive.is/bWfEc).
A Twitter advanced search also did not reveal the article published via @BBCNews, @BBCWorld or @BBCBreaking Twitter accounts (bit.ly/3uE917M).
The font viewable in the headline also does not match the typography seen across BBC News online. The BBC has its own font, titled ‘BBC Reith,’ according to the style guide publicly available online (here).
The font viewable in the image circulating online closely resembles ‘Calibri,’ not ‘BBC Reith.’
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists myocarditis and pericarditis as a “serious type of adverse event after COVID-19 vaccination” (here), (here).
Reuters published an article in January 2022 detailing the latest research into the risk of myocarditis following a COVID-19 infection or an inoculation of a COVID-19 vaccine (here).
Reuters has previously addressed other fabricated headlines shared online, with users duped into thinking that the images showed authentic news articles (here), (here), (here).
VERDICT
Altered. The BBC did not publish an article linking excessive breathing to heart complications. The image was digitally altered.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.