The immune system exists, despite what a TikTok may say

Health experts and officials have urged people with compromised immune systems to take extra precautions during the coronavirus pandemic, but a recent TikTok post claims that immune systems aren’t real.

"The immune system does not exist," someone in the TikTok claims. "What you call the immune system is just the lymphatic system." 

A Facebook post sharing this TikTok video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The immune system is real. 

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According to Cleveland Clinic, the lymphatic system is part of the immune system. It’s a network of tissues, vessels and organs that move a fluid called lymph through the human bloodstream and protects the human body from illness-causing invaders, such as bacteria, parasites and viruses. 

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia likens the immune system to a police force: "it patrols everywhere, and if it finds a disturbance, it calls for backup."

If the immune system is a police force, the hospital says, "lymph nodes are their stations."  

We rate claims that the immune system doesn’t exist False.