The fears of public health crises increases us in the midst of a drop in vaccination rates

Falling vaccination rates, epidemics of infantile diseases formerly Vannes and the appointment of a skeptical vocal vaccine as health secretary have American experts who have their alarm of an imminent public health crisis.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 130 cases of measles have been reported in Texas and the neighboring New Mexico, which makes fear that very contagious and potentially serious disease is coming back.

“Measles is the canary of the coal mine,” said the main pediatrician and immunologist Paul Offit, highlighting the drop in vaccination rates from the COVVI-19 pandemic.

In the midst of growing mistrust towards health authorities and pharmaceutical companies, more parents choose not to vaccinate their children.

The proportion of preschool children vaccinated against measles – which is compulsory – has dropped nationally 95% in 2019 at less than 93% in 2023. Some regions show even stronger decreases, such as the ‘Idaho, where rates dropped below 80%.

Experts warn that this trend could worsen under the direction of the new health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly presented the security of vaccines and has promoted disinformation.

“It is a disaster that awaits to happen, and it will happen,” said AFP.

Religious exemptions

In Louisiana, the darling resulted in the death of two children, according to local media. As with measles, experts attribute resurgence to exemptions from vaccines.

“This already happens. Our immunization rates are already low enough for vulnerable children to obtain these diseases,” said Jennifer Herricks, scientist and member of the Board of Directors of Louisiana for non -profit for vaccines, In an interview with AFP.

In a large part of the country, parents can withdraw from compulsory vaccinations for reasons beyond medical conditions.

Many states authorize exemptions for religious reasons, while others authorize “philosophical” objections – or both.

“In Texas, you can just say roughly, I oppose it,” said Terra Burke of the Texas -based immunization partnership.

Recent measles cases have been reported in a County in Texas with a large Mennonite population – a conservative Christian sect.

The situation recalls the 2019 measles epidemic, which experienced more than 1,200 cases, mainly among the unvaccinated Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey.

While the Reasons Behind these exemptions Vary—Renging from Rortigious Beliefs and Fear of Side Effects to Distrust in Health Authorities or Difficulties Accessing Health Care – our is an undeniable trend Linked to “Pandemic Backlash,” Said Richard Hughes, a Health Policy Expert George Washington University.

Legislative offensives

Mixed messaging on masking, frustration on locking and cocvid vaccine mandates – some of which remained in place long after it was clear that the shots did not fully prevent transmission – he eroded confidence of the public, he said.

“We might have done better by simply continuing to encourage people to be vaccinated than demanding it,” added Hughes.

But everything was amplified by an overwhelming propagation of disinformation, which prospered in the era of social media and podcasts.

These factors have transformed vaccinations into a flash point in American cultural wars. Throughout the country, legislators have bills aimed at either devoting vaccine mandates to local level, prohibiting certain types of vaccines or expanding exemptions.

The number of these bills has more than doubled in relation to the pre-cook levels, said Herricks, which follows the problem nationwide.

Notable changes include Montana’s decision to stop vaccination statistics and the cessation of the promotion of vaccines by Louisiana – the signs of the growing marginalization of a practice which was once a cornerstone of public health policy.

According to Offer, the Americans could soon face a verification of reality.

Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, the disease overthrew about three to four million Americans a year and killed hundreds.

It was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, thanks to a generalized vaccination.

“People do not realize how sick and dead this virus can,” he said.

© 2025 AFP