As a child go back to schoolFederal health officials are stressing the importance of getting routine vaccinations against diseases like measles.
Over 200 cases of measles have been reported this year in more than two dozen states and Washington, DC, more than triple the number of cases reported last year. Most are in children under 5 five years of age who are not vaccinated or have unknown vaccination status.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said we are seeing more cases of measles because it is “highly contagious.”
“It’s one of the most contagious viruses out there, but we have a way to protect ourselves, right? We want to make sure everyone gets their vaccination,” she said.
Earlier this year, a CBS News investigation identified at least 8,500 schools where measles vaccination the rate among kindergarten children was below the 95% threshold that the CDC identifies as critical to protecting a community from measles.
“I travel the country reminding people before they go back to school: make sure your kids are up to date on their measles vaccine and polio and several others. It’s our best defense against some of these serious diseases, says Cohen.
Among children born from 1994 to 2023, about 500 million cases of illness, as well as 32 million hospitalizations and 1,129,000 deaths, will have been prevented through routine childhood vaccinations, according to CDC data.
“We are our young people’s only defense against everything in the world,” Erica Grandpre, a Minnesota parent, told CBS News. “I’ve been reading it in the news for the last few years — you’re like, really? I thought this was gone. I thought this was a thing of the past.”