The Forum - The Measles Outbreak: Why Vaccines Matter

This timeline from PBS NewsHour presents key moments and outbreaks in U.S. measles history since 1492—a response to the current resurgence in the vaccine-preventable disease. In the first few months of 2019, the epidemic has already surpassed a 25-year record. The timeline specifically highlights how a policy switch in 1989—giving two people two doses of the vaccine—helped eliminate the disease in the U.S. by 2000.

This article in the American Journal of Public Health examines the content of proposed bills in state legislatures from 2011 to 2017 that would affect immunization exemption laws. 92 bills expanded access to exemptions, while 83 bills limited the ability to exempt. Of the 13 bills actually signed into law, 12 limited the ability to exempt—a promising sign for public health. Proposed bills that were likely to increase access to exemptions usually came from Republican…

This article in JAMA outline the costs of measles outbreaks in the U.S. beyond simple case counts, analyzing long-term immune issues from infection, monetary effects of outbreak response, and strain on health care infrastructure. The authors share that measles infection—which suppresses immune response for 2 to 3 years after infection—can make individual susceptible other infections in the future. From a financial perspective, measles response is costly, and can be high as $142,000 for a single…