RFK Jr. Wants to Rethink the Measles Vaccine. Here’s What the Science Shows.
January 29, 2025

(Wall Street Journal) – Measles and mumps are viral diseases so rare that fewer than one in 40,000 Americans catch either of them in a given year. Getting rubella is less likely than getting struck by lightning.
But as recently as the 1960s, measles sickened half a million people in the U.S. annually and killed hundreds. Mumps was a leading cause of deafness in children and rubella sickened thousands of pregnant women, causing many to miscarry or to deliver infants with birth defects. Measles, mumps and rubella vaccines introduced in the 1960s slashed infection rates. All 50 states require children to receive a combined MMR vaccine before starting school.
“We’ve eliminated the memory of these diseases,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Read More)