An old chain message is circulating again on Facebook. Its text is falsely warning netizens against alleged members of the Islamic State group disguising themselves as healthcare workers to infect and kill people with “[acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] virus” under the pretense of giving vaccinations. The Department of Health has debunked this.
The erroneous claim, which had already been debunked in 2018, re-emerged this month. The earliest post of the revived message that VERA Files has tracked on FB was published on July 19.
The entire message read:
“te Paki inform mga friends nyo na my nag iikot daw sa Pinas taga medical center cla kunyari anti tetanus o anupaman wag daw magpabakuna kc mdami daw nagkakalat member ng muslim isis group iinject daw aids virus pampatay sa mga tao para mkaganti sa gobyerno wag kamo cla mag entertain ng mga ganon at dlikado post u na now k,ipinasa lng sa akin ito, bka totoo e mabuti na ring alm nyo ng makapag-ingat. Pls.pass as many as you can..
(Please inform your friends that there are people allegedly going around the Philippines pretending to be from a medical center, claiming to give anti-tetanus [shots] or something similar. Do not get vaccinated because many of them are supposedly members of a Muslim ISIS group who are injecting the AIDS virus to kill people as a form of revenge against the government. Do not entertain such individuals as they are dangerous. Post this now. This was just forwarded to me. It might be true, so it’s better that you’re aware and can take precautions. Please pass this on to as many as you can.)”
The text on FB posts ended with the phrase, “1 hour ago · Sent from Messenger,” indicating it originated and has been circulated on Meta’s messaging app.
![An old chain message recirculating on Facebook is falsely warning netizens against alleged members of the ISIS group disguising themselves as healthcare workers to infect and kill people with “[acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] virus” under the pretense of giving vaccinations.](https://verafiles.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/VPi-old-chain-message-recirculating-facebook.jpg)
The Department of Health-Cagayan Valley Center for Health Development released an advisory on July 22, describing the message as “misleading and malicious, which undermines public health efforts and fuels unnecessary fear and resistance toward life-saving immunization services.”
The DOH-CVCHD said these services are further strengthened through community-based initiatives such as the immunization monitoring program and the PuroKalusugan strategy, which involve regular household visits by health workers to provide health services and promote accurate information.
The Health department urged the public to remain vigilant when consuming or sharing information online.
In December 2018, Rappler fact-checked the same spurious claim, which the DOH also debunked.
In another article published by the Philippine News Agency on May 31, 2018, the Philippine National Police also dismissed the same chain text, calling it a “hoax.”
The fear-mongering message resurfaced more than a month after the DOH reported the rise in the number of human immunodeficiency virus cases—the virus that causes AIDS— in the country, prompting the department to urge President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a national public health emergency.
Posted by at least five FB users from July 19 to 23, the posts containing the seven-year-old inaccurate chain text have collectively received 9,128 interactions as of writing.
