, Columnist
Measles Outbreak Was Entirely Avoidable
Low vaccination rates contributed to the re-emergence of a disease declared eradicated in the US 25 years ago.
A little pain for a lifetime of protection.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico has killed a child and sickened more than 130 people, and public health experts fear it’s only the beginning. It’s an entirely avoidable health emergency fueled by weaknesses in our vaccine forcefield.
It’s also not hard to imagine this type of emergency becoming much worse, much faster if Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, further undermines the safety of and access to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.