‘Infodemia’ is a portmanteau between ‘information’ and ‘epidemics’, referring to wide and rapid accumulation and dissemination of information, misinformation, and disinformation about a given subject, such as a disease. As facts, rumors and fears mix and disperse, the misinfodemic creates loud background noise, preventing the general public from discerning between accurate and false information. We compared and contrasted key elements of the AIDS and COVID-19 misinfodemics, to identify common features, and, based on experience with the AIDS pandemic, recommend actions to control and reverse the SARS-CoV-2 misinfodemic that contributed to erode the trust between the public and scientists and governments and has created barriers to control of COVID-19. As pandemics emerge and evolve, providing robust responses to future misinfodemics must be a priority for society and public health. Misinfodemics constantly thwart the impact of efficacious responses to emerging pandemics.Infodemics foster serious distrust between the people and medical professionals and the legitimate acts of governments requiring public cooperation for controlling pandemics.Prevention of the misinfodemics by the scientific community is critical for the successful control of emerging pandemics and should be undertaken immediately.Comparison of the HIV and SARS-CoV-2 pandemics is informative for understanding misinfodemics throughout modern history. These comparisons strongly suggest that misinfodemics will certainly be a reoccurring phenomenon with disastrous consequences without decisive actions.