It is easier than ever to spread medical disinformation, but the phenomenon is not new. Before anti-vaxxers, stories circulated that water fluoridation was a government plot for mind control and population restriction. In the 1980s, rumours circulated that HIV/AIDS was a man-made disease, while vaccination projects in Africa were reported to be a deliberate attempt to infect Africans.
The 1980s KGB campaign of disinformation, called Operation INFEKTION, spread the idea that HIV/AIDS was created in an American government laboratory (specifically Fort Detrick, Maryland). The campaign explained that HIV/AIDS was a product of a biological weapons research project.
Head Over Heals 