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Public Health Experts Suggest Honest Approach to Boost Measles Vaccine Trust
Confirmed
In Short: Public health agencies and experts are advocating a counterintuitive approach to boost trust in measles vaccines: openly acknowledging that for most healthy children, measles is a relatively mild illness from which they recover completely.
Risk communication expert Peter Sandman, formerly at Rutgers University, suggests this forthright approach could earn credibility to explain why vaccines are crucial despite the mildness of the disease.
Epidemiologist Katrine Wallace at the University of Illinois Chicago agrees, emphasizing that acknowledging the mildness of measles for most children can enhance the credibility of public health messaging.
This approach contrasts with the current strategy of emphasizing the severity of measles, which some argue has backfired by making the disease seem too frightening and leading to vaccine hesitancy.
With over 4,400 measles cases reported in the United States this year, double the number in 2025, public health authorities are increasingly desperate to persuade more people to take the virus seriously.
However, the measles vaccination rates have dropped in more than 1,600 counties around the country from 2017 to 2024, indicating a growing challenge in vaccine uptake.
Historian of science Elena Conis at the University of California, Berkeley, notes that in the first half of the 20th century, measles was less of a public health concern because people were more accustomed to dealing with other serious diseases like scarlet fever and typhoid fever.
Public health experts emphasize that while measles is often mild, there are significant downstream health issues that could affect children who contract the disease, and vaccines are crucial and safer than trying to build immunity through exposure.
Nicholas Florko, who covers trust in science for STAT, aims to help readers understand the lived experiences of people who distrust science and to probe why that distrust exists and its consequences.
Despite these efforts, some public health initiatives face political challenges. For instance, President Donald Trump's call to 'break up' the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which would require more visits and shots, has raised concerns among public health officials.
Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump's pick to lead the FDA, reassured senators during a contentious confirmation hearing that all vaccines are safe and effective.
However, the Catholic Church advises that Catholics utilizing vaccines have a duty to inform drugmakers and healthcare providers about their opposition to the use of aborted fetal cells in vaccine development.
Moderna and Merck are using mRNA technology to develop new cancer vaccines, highlighting the potential of this technology beyond infectious diseases.
What this adds
The facts do not establish a direct link between Trump's Medicaid spending cuts and measles vaccination rates, but they highlight broader challenges in public health funding and policy.
Background
However, critics note that Trump's 2025 law, which reduces Medicaid spending by over $900 billion over 10 years, may hinder maternal health initiatives.
What's confirmed
- Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F.
What's still developing
- “Children and caregivers deserve better consideration for the downstream impact of these proposed changes,” he said in a statement.
- Overton had called the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade "a huge victory for life."
- "Our findings have important implications for the implementation of emerging preventive dementia vaccines, suggesting the need for targeted communication and engagement to ensure equitable uptake," the authors wrote.
- Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
- The mother, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, wanted her son, C.F., to start at Waverly School in Eastchester this month and is seeking a religious exemption to required vaccines.
- “The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall’ and did not authorize or license the Tetris brand or intellectual property for the game,” the spokesperson said.
- “Flu remains a significant public health challenge, and mFlusiva provides an important new option for America’s seniors,” said Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO.
- A government spokesman has since explained the US was demanding access to biological samples for research and commercial gain but said it was not willing to share the benefits for future vaccines and treatments.
- "We believe this collaboration would have delivered extraordinary benefits for Zimbabwean communities especially the 1.2 million men, women and children currently receiving HIV treatment through US-supported programmes," Tremont said.
- Has Suggested Vaccines Caused 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic at Least Twice'.
- The police search took place on Monday, involving “investigative procedures aimed at clarifying the circumstances related to the said batch of vaccines”, according to the social media post, which was translated from Portuguese.
- The Bandim Health Project was founded by anthropologist Peter Aaby in 1978, and it is now co-led by his wife, Christine Stabell Benn, an epidemiologist.