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In Good Health: Why Measles Numbers Are On The Rise
August 12, 20261:21 PM ET
In Good Health: Why Measles Numbers Are On The Rise
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Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium in Seminole, Texas.
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Nationwide, students, teachers, and parents are gearing up for the school year.And measles is spreading. The U.S. has already logged more cases this year than in all of 2025. It’s the highest count in 35 years. That’s in large part because measles vaccination rates have slipped below 95 percent – the threshold public health experts say is needed to stop community spread. Last week on CNN, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said children should be vaccinated for measles after being pressed on-camera, even as he used the same interview to push a debunked claim about respiratory syncytial virus. And on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at upending the childhood vaccine schedule, including changes to the measles vaccine and others. But what will actually change at the doctor’s office?Find more of our programsonline. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.
