A WHO report of infant myocarditis cases in Wales is being misrepresented on social media

CLAIM: The World Health Organization admits mothers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are giving birth to babies with heart defects.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A spokesperson for the WHO confirms the global health agency has made no such declaration. The claims reference a WHO report on a recent rash of infant myocarditis cases in Wales. But the report says the cases have been linked to enterovirus, and makes no mention of COVID-19. Public health officials in Wales also say most of the mothers weren’t even vaccinated against the coronavirus during pregnancy.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a false claim that the United Nations health agency has made the startling admission that coronavirus vaccinations are leading to severe health complications in newborns.

Many are sharing a screenshot of a headline that reads: “WHO Admits That Fully Jabbed Moms Are Giving Birth to Babies With Severe Heart Defects.”

The headline is from a post by The People’s Voice, a website previously known as NewsPunch and Your News Wire that routinely spreads misinformation.

“MAJOR BOMBSHELL: The World Health Organization has finally admitted that THOUSANDS of fully jabbed mothers giving birth to babies with ‘severe heart defects’,” one Twitter user wrote in a post sharing the screenshot. “This is Satanic.”

But the WHO report referenced in the website’s story has nothing to do with the coronavirus or any of the vaccines developed to help prevent its spread.

The May 16 report discloses the 10 recent cases of myocarditis diagnosed in newborns in Wales. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that’s typically caused by a viral or bacterial infection and can lead to chest pains, shortness of breath and heart palpitations, according to the WHO.

The report states that the cases, which occurred between June 2022 and April 2023, have been linked to enterovirus, which generally causes mild infections but can affect newborns and people with weakened immune systems more severely.

One infant has so far died, but the WHO has deemed the public health risk low.

“As there is no vaccine for this virus, control measures during outbreaks are focused on classical hygiene measures including frequent handwashing and disinfection of soiled clothing and surfaces,” the agency wrote, referring to enterovirus. “In certain situations, it may be advisable to close child-care facilities and schools to reduce the intensity of transmission.”

Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the WHO, confirmed the widely shared headline misrepresented the agency’s report. “There is no truth in this one,” she wrote in an email, without elaborating.

Representatives with The People’s Voice didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday, but public health officials in the United Kingdom also shot down the false claims, noting the WHO report makes no mention at all of COVID-19.

Daniel Owens, a spokesperson for Wales Public Health, the local agency that investigated the cases, said there is no evidence the myocarditis cases were linked to COVID-19 vaccination as “only a small minority” of the mothers were actually vaccinated during pregnancy.

“No clear cause has yet been identified for the increase this year in enterovirus-associated myocarditis, but we believe the increase may be due to the changes in circulation of respiratory viruses over the pandemic, with a subsequent effect on their circulation post-pandemic,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

Emma O’Brien, a spokesperson for the U.K.’s Health Security Agency, which reported the cases to the WHO on behalf of Wales, stressed the COVID-19 vaccine remains the best way for people to prevent serious complications from the virus.

“Large-scale studies worldwide have found no evidence of any increased risk of myocarditis in infants of mothers who were vaccinated against COVID-19 in pregnancy,” she wrote in an email.

Shamez Ladhani, a pediatrician at the agency, also dismissed the false claims as “complete misinformation.”

“This is a well-known condition caused by a well-known virus that happens to a very small minority of babies every year, but sometimes the cases can cluster as happened in Wales recently,” he wrote in an email, referring to myocarditis and enterovirus. “We were simply raising awareness of this cluster to the healthcare community.”
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.