Measles: Kennedy’s big disease test

“Thanks to successful vaccination campaigns, most Americans today have never experienced a measles outbreak,” said Leana S. Wen in The Washington Post. So when they see that Texas has reported more than 120 cases of the disease in a month—mostly among children—“they might not understand why it’s so alarming.”

Here’s why: The disease is wildly contagious and dangerous. Nine in 10 unvaccinated children who have contact with an infected person will get ill. Of those sickened children, 1 in 20 will develop pneumonia; 1 in 1,000 will suffer brain swelling that can cause deafness and permanent disability; and 1 to 3 in 1,000 will die. In Texas, at least 18 patients have been hospitalized so far. Two shots of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine are 97 percent effective at preventing measles, and that lifesaving vaccine allowed the U.S. to declare measles eliminated 25 years ago. But vaccination coverage has been dropping nationwide as anti-vax sentiment has spread, and in Gaines County, Texas, where the measles outbreak began, nearly 14 percent of K-12 students are exempt from one or more shots.