The house is on fire, folks! And we are arguing over the color of the smoke detectors instead of putting out the flames.
For 25 years, the United States has maintained a hard-won public health victory:
#measles elimination. We are now just months, if not weeks, away from officially losing that status for the first time since 2000, not because the virus got smarter, but because we, as a society, have let our guard down and allowed
#Misinformation to fester.
The science is unambiguous: the
#MMR #vaccine is safe and 97% effective with two doses. The current outbreaks, which have tragically led to the first U.S. measles deaths in a decade, are overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated.
We have seen this movie before in other countries, including Canada which recently lost its status, and it does not end well. If we fail to stop the sustained transmission by the January 2026 deadline, it is a glaring indictment of our collective commitment to public health. This is not a technicality; it is a signal that our once-robust herd immunity has been dangerously breached.
The responsibility lies squarely with those who prioritize ideology over evidence. The path forward is clear, though perhaps politically challenging: we must increase immunization rates and restore trust in our public health institutions. The lives of vulnerable children and adults depend on it.
Learn more in my latest published
Contagion Live article - Public Health Wake-Up Call: Will the US Lose Measles Elimination Status?
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Rodney E. Rohde, PhD, MS, SM(ASCP)CM,SVCM,MBCM, FACSc
Regents' Professor, Texas State University System
University Distinguished Chair & Professor, Medical Laboratory Science [MLS] Program
TEDx Speaker & Global Fellow – Global Citizenship Alliance
Texas State Honorary Professor of International Studies
Associate Director, Translational Health Research Initiative @txst_THR
Past President, Texas Association for CLS
Texas State University
MLS Program, Encino Hall 350B [office ENC 363]
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666-4616
512-245-3500 [CLS suite]; 512-245-2562 [office]
Email:
rrohde@txstate.eduPronouns: he/him/his
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