Measles News and Research

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Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains a leading cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 197 000 people died from measles in 2007, mostly children under the age of five.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family. The measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs. It is a human disease not known to occur in animals.

Childhood vaccination rates, a rare health bright spot in struggling states, are slipping

Jen Fisher can do only so much to keep her son safe from the types of infections that children can encounter at school. The rest, she said, is up to other students and parents in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

16 Jan 2025

Blood cells linked to long-lasting vaccine immunity

When children receive their second measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, around the time they start kindergarten, they gain protection against all three viruses for all or most of their lives.

2 Jan 2025

RSV vaccine acceptance grows amidst rising flu concerns

A year after becoming available, vaccines to protect against RSV in newborns and older adults are being more widely accepted by the American public, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) health survey conducted in November 2024.

23 Dec 2024

Whooping cough cases on the rise, but public awareness of the disease still persists

Following a several-year lull during the pandemic, cases of whooping cough are increasing across the United States.

17 Dec 2024

Widening childhood vaccination inequality in England raises concerns

Inequalities in childhood vaccination are widening in England, with uptake rates of five key vaccines consistently lower in young children living in areas of higher deprivation from 2019 to 2023, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

11 Dec 2024

How measles, whooping cough, and worse could roar back on RFK Jr.’s watch

The availability of safe, effective covid vaccines less than a year into the pandemic marked a high point in the 300-year history of vaccination, seemingly heralding an age of protection against infectious diseases.

6 Dec 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public health and the dairy cow in the room

Public health, one of the more misunderstood concepts in the health world, is about the health of entire populations, rather than individuals.

26 Nov 2024

Measles outbreaks increase worldwide with inadequate immunization coverage

Worldwide, there were an estimated 10.3 million cases of measles in 2023, a 20% increase from 2022, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Inadequate immunization coverage globally is driving the surge in cases.

14 Nov 2024

Scientists fear what’s next for public health if RFK Jr. is allowed to ‘go wild’

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

14 Nov 2024

Maternal antibodies may hinder malaria vaccine effectiveness in infants

Maternal antibodies passed across the placenta can interfere with the response to the malaria vaccine, which would explain its lower efficacy in infants under five months of age, according to research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), in collaboration with seven African centers (CISM-Mozambique, IHI-Tanzania, CRUN-Burkina Faso, KHRC-Ghana, NNIMR-Ghana, CERMEL-Gabon, KEMRI-Kenya).

23 Oct 2024

Happening in Springfield: New immigrants offer economic promise, health system challenges

When Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance claimed Haitian immigrants had caused infectious-disease rates to "skyrocket" in Springfield, Ohio, local health commissioner Chris Cook checked the records.

10 Oct 2024

FAU researchers highlight new vaccination barriers

Vaccines to prevent common and serious infectious diseases have had a greater impact on improving human health than any other medical advance of the 20th century, surpassing even sanitation and potable water. From the global eradication of smallpox in 1980 to the unprecedented development of effective and safe mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, vaccinations have played crucial roles in preventing millions of premature deaths and hospitalizations in adults and children.

8 Oct 2024

Trump leads, and his party follows, on vaccine skepticism

More than four years ago, former President Donald Trump’s administration accelerated the development and rollout of the covid-19 vaccine.

4 Oct 2024

Study shows gradual waning of MMR vaccine effectiveness over time

The MMR vaccine remains the best protection against measles, according to a modelling study in England which suggests the level of protection decreases slightly over time.

27 Sep 2024

Study: MMR vaccine remains the most effective measure to prevent measles infection

Most measles cases in England are among unvaccinated individuals. But, between 2011 and 2019, the proportion of measles cases in adults who received two doses of the MMR vaccine in England increased from 1.9% (20/1064) to 7.2% (57/790), however the cause of this increase remains unclear.

26 Sep 2024

Epidemiology of viral pathogens involved in febrile rash illness

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. The aim of this study was to monitor the spectrum of viral pathogens involved in febrile rash illness (FRI) and their epidemiology.

23 Sep 2024

Florida’s new covid booster guidance is straight-up misinformation

In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from covid-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous.

23 Sep 2024

New research network focuses on high-priority viruses

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established a pandemic preparedness research network to conduct research on high-priority pathogens most likely to threaten human health with the goal of developing effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. Currently, many of the diseases caused by these pathogens have no available vaccines or therapeutics, and investing in this research is key to preparing for potential public health crises - both in the United States and around the world. NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) expects to commit approximately $100 million per year to fund the program, pending the availability of funds.

14 Sep 2024

Boom, now bust: Budget cuts and layoffs take hold in public health

Even as federal aid poured into state budgets in response to the covid-19 pandemic, public health leaders warned of a boom-and-bust funding cycle on the horizon as the emergency ended and federal grants sunsetted.

5 Sep 2024

First meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee reports on mpox surge

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), having concurred with the advice offered by the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR or Regulations) Emergency Committee regarding the upsurge of mpox 2024 during its first meeting, held on 14 August 2024, has determined, on the same date, that the ongoing upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the provisions of the Regulations.

20 Aug 2024