CDC warns of increase in measles and decrease in vaccinations as Trump vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. appoints as head of health care

International health organizations are raising the alarm about an increase in measles and a decline in vaccination rates against the deadly – ​​and preventable – virus.

More than 10 million people contracted measles last year, up from 8.6 million in 2022, according to a joint report from the CDC and the World Health Organization.

At the same time, the report found that vaccination rates remained low after a large decline in 2021.

Measles, which usually causes a rash, cough and high fever, can quickly escalate to serious symptoms in one in five unvaccinated people, leading to pneumonia, brain swelling and death.

In 2023, the virus caused 107,500 deaths, mainly in children under the age of five, because children with a vulnerable immune system are particularly at risk if they become infected with the disease.

Since the Covid pandemic, the number of people skipping vaccinations has increased. The new report shows that only 83 percent of people worldwide received the measles vaccine in 2023 – largely unchanged from the low point in 2021.

Experts suggest this has to do with people missing doctor’s appointments during Covid-19, and that this is due to increased vaccine hesitancy, partly promoted by major figures like Robert F Kennedy Jr. – the newly appointed head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In response to this trend and the increase in measles, WHO and CDC officials reiterated that vaccination is the best way to prevent the disease.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The measles vaccine has saved more lives than any other vaccine in the past 50 years.”

RFK Jr will lead the Department of Health and Human Services during Donald Trump’s second term as president. The lawyer has claimed that fluoride in tap water is toxic and promoted the idea that a herbicide called atrazine can cause people to experience “sexual confusion” and “gender confusion.”

In 2000, measles was declared eradicated in the US, after a decades-long vaccination campaign that began in 1978.

Other countries in the six regions covered by the WHO pledged to make similar gains by vaccinating their citizens – with the aim of getting 95 percent of them vaccinated.

This 95 percent standard is the goal for herd immunity – which represents the number of residents who need to be vaccinated to stop the spread of an infectious disease.

But the US and other countries such as Britain and Australia have deviated from that goal, and now outbreaks are happening worldwide, according to the new report.

The WHO and the CDC reached their conclusions by processing data from vaccination programs and measles outbreaks in 149 different countries.

The report shows that the number of countries with large-scale outbreaks has increased from 36 to 57.

Nearly half of these outbreaks occurred in Africa.

Moreover, between 2000 and 2019, the number of people who received a measles vaccine increased from 71 percent to 86 percent.

The report shows that progress has slowed in 2021 due to the pandemic. Only about 81 percent of people received the measles vaccine in 2021, the lowest rate since 2008.

Public health officials hoped the decline was just a blip, but the 2023 report shows the trend is continuing.

Now only 83 percent of the world’s population has received the vaccine. Especially in the US, the numbers are slightly higher, but still below the federal target: 92.7 percent of preschoolers have been vaccinated.

The number of people dying from the disease fell slightly, from 116,800 in 2022 to 107,500 in 2023. This was because many of the new cases of the disease occurred in countries with otherwise strong healthcare systems, where children are less likely to die from the disease . infectious disease in general, according to the Hill.

The CDC estimates that 60 million lives have been saved by the vaccine in the 21st century.

Despite these positives, the anti-vaxx movement appears to be gaining momentum in recent years.

This could be partly because pandemic vaccine mandates may have made more people hesitant to get vaccinated, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Fauci told the New York Times that Americans may have felt their freedoms were violated when they were told to get a vaccine, inadvertently creating distrust in the health care system.

The CDC estimates that the measles vaccine has saved 60 million lives since 2000. Doctors recommend that children between 12 and 15 months old get their first MMR vaccine

He said, “Man, I think almost paradoxically there were people who were hesitant to get vaccinated and were like, why are they making me do this?”

This hesitancy has been exploited by anti-vaccination advocates such as RFK Jr, who has become popular for supporting a number of conspiratorial healthcare movements.

He rails against tap water, both over debunked claims that fluoride is neurotoxic and that chemicals in the supply can turn children transgender.

He has suggested that AIDS is not caused by the HIV virus, that the food industry is guilty of ‘mass poisoning’ and that vaccines cause autism.

These claims have struck a chord with many Americans, and experts suggest that RFK Jr.’s arguments. have helped repopularize the anti-vaxx movement.

For the WHO and CDC doctors who published the report, emphasizing the safety and effectiveness of vaccines therefore seemed of paramount importance.

Dr. Ghebreyesus added: “To save even more lives and prevent this deadly virus from harming the most vulnerable, we must invest in immunization for everyone, wherever they live.”

Doctors recommend that children receive two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – with the first at about 12 to 15 months of age and the second at about 4 to 6 years of age.

It is crucial that people get it at this age to avoid spreading deadly diseases to babies whose immune systems are too fragile to protect against the disease.

Injecting a damaged virus into your body, which keeps the person from getting sick, trains the immune system to recognize the invader so it can fight it in the future to prevent illness, according to Cleveland Clinic.

The vaccine works against measles, mumps and rubella viruses because doctors designed it to contain components of all three viruses.

Cold symptoms, such as fever, coughing, and a runny or stuffy nose, are usually the first sign of measles

In recent years there has also been an increase in mumps and rubella.

In 2024, there were 277 cases of measles in the U.S., 89 percent of which occurred in unvaccinated people, the CDC reported.

Getting two doses of the MMR vaccine is about 97 percent effective at preventing the disease. In the rare event that a vaccinated person contracts the disease, they are less likely to become seriously ill than unvaccinated people.

Early and common signs of measles include fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, inflamed eyes, and white spots in the throat.

In the rare event that someone becomes more seriously ill from measles, symptoms progress to pneumonia, encephalitis, bronchitis, diarrhea and vomiting. Any of these symptoms can lead to hospitalization and, in the worst cases, death.

According to the CDC, about one in five unvaccinated Americans who contract the virus will be hospitalized with the condition.

According to the newspaper, there are no specific treatments for the virus National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. If someone is hospitalized, he or she may be given vitamin A to support their immune system and help them get over the virus more quickly.

Because there is no treatment for the disease, doctors insist that vaccination, which can prevent serious illness, is the best approach.

According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, “If you are unsure whether you have been vaccinated, it is safe to get another measles vaccine. The only people who should not receive a measles vaccine are those who have a weakened immune system or are pregnant.”