At the turn of the century, Measles was considered eliminated across the US. At the time, Measles was not constantly present, and cases were occasional. Twenty-five years later, two children have died in Texas, and another individual’s death is under investigation in New Mexico after testing positive. Measles has since expanded across 25 states, as well as the District of Columbia. The children who passed were unvaccinated. Health experts routinely urge the public to vaccinate themselves and their children as the number one method of preventing the disease. The first vaccinationprovides 93 percent protection, and the second increases it to 97 percent.
In 2024, there were a total of 285 cases of Measles, and 89% of cases impacted someone who was unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Within the first four months of 2025, that number has been surpassed. As of April 11, 2025, the CDC reports 712 cases, with 97% of those impacted being unvaccinated or having an unknown vaccination status. To protect against the spread of measles, communities benefit from power in numbers. More than 95 percent of a community should be vaccinated. Measles is highly contagious and can travel from person to personby simply breathing contaminated air. The virus can live in the airspace for up to two hours after the infected person leaves. Vaccination rates have been declining and dipping below the recommended amount.
Experts are concerned about the health and safety costs that come with declining public trust in science and medicine. Parental concerns and vaccine skepticism are seen as contributing to declining herd or collective immunity. Robert F Kennedy Jr, United States Secretary of Health and Human Serivces’s stance on vaccinations has been publicly debated. Kennedy stated, “I support the measles vaccine” at his confirmation hearing on January 29. 2025.
A 2023 study stated, “vaccine hesitancy is a public health threat” and that a “one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful.” Further, it encouraged safe and nonjudgmental discussions about vaccines to help combat misinformation and vaccine hesitancy. Eroded trust in vaccines, and healthcare in general play a significant role in vaccine hesitancy. The sociocultural of a community, and the opinions that the community shares regarding the safety of vaccines influence individual and parental decision-making. Most parents who do not vaccinate their children fear the vaccine causes autism based on a prior study that was later retracted. This study, the Wakefield study was found to be based on scientific misconduct and deemed to misrepresent data in a fraudulent capacity. Since then, multiple studies have been conducted that do not connect childhood vaccines with autism.
The public health threat of Measles poses a health risk to anyone infected, but is even more dangerous for young children, due to their weaker immune system and developing organ system. All states require children to be vaccinated against multiple diseases before attending school. Most states also include private schools under this set of regulations and other states include children who are homeschooled as a further public safety measure. Babies are recommended to receive their first MMR vaccine between the ages of 12 to 15 months and their second between the ages of four and six. However, special circumstances exist to vaccinate infants as young as six months if an outbreak or family travel plans pose an added risk to the child’s health.
State laws vary on the types of acceptable documentation required to prove immunizations. Additionally, vaccine exemptions exist for individuals with medical, religious, or philosophical objections to vaccination. Students who are unvaccinated can be exempted from school during an outbreak as an added layer of precaution. Some states require that for a child to attend school without proper vaccinations, there is a parental education requirement to discuss the risks of being unvaccinated. Often, this requirement involves religious or philosophical exemption. In March, West Virginia’s legislature rejected a bill that would have relaxed school vaccination requirements. The state is among those in the country with the strictest regulations on immunizations for school-age children and only permits medical exemptions.