False claim resurfaces of HIV spike in US military tied to Covid vaccines

UnITEd States military is not “testing soldiers for Aids” based on the debunked idea that a department of defence database registered an increase in HIV infections since the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Posts include a screenshot of a tweet that reads, “Breaking: US military is now testing soldiers for Aids, after dod database reports 500% increase in HIV since the Covid vaccine rollout.”

A spokesperson for dod said that the claim is false, and that it is a variation of a misleading narrative circulating in early 2022.

The posts allude to the defense Medical Epidemiology database (dMEd), which registered apparent spikes in cases of various conditions in 2021 as a result of underreporting between 2016 and 2020, as previously addressed by Reuters.

That included an apparent 590% increase in HIV infections after previously unregistered cases were counted, while the claim being shared in 2023 mentions a 500% increase.

The claim that Covid vaccines cause HIV infections or Aids has also been debunked by

The US military is not “testing soldiers for Aids” based on the false claim that a database showed a 500% increase in HIV infections after rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine.