Measles, rubella and polio: The return of preventable diseases
(NewsNation) — With outbreaks of previously eradicated measles leading the news for months, more epidemics may be in store for the U.S.
As vaccination rates among children continue to plummet, concerns are rising over the potential for infectious disease to spread rampantly in the coming years and decades. Research published in JAMA suggests a continued decline could lead to millions of infections from diseases currently considered under control or eradicated.
Measles: Worst year in decades; Schumer responds
The impact of declining vaccination rates is already becoming visible. As of the middle of 2025, the U.S. is having the worst year for measles in over three decades. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported 1,288 confirmed cases in 38 states as of July 8.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking him to declare a health emergency over the recent measles outbreaks.
Schumer blamed the administration for the worst measles outbreak in 33 years, citing cuts to disease experts, halted grants and politicized vaccine policy.
“To prevent this historic record high spread from reaching further and to save lives, you should
immediately declare a Public Health Emergency for measles,” said Schumer.
If vaccination rates continue at the same pace, researchers predict 851,300 cases of measles over the next 25 years. Additionally, if rates were to fall by even 10% cases would shoot up to 11.1 million over the next 25 years.
Rubella: Pregnant women at risk
Rubella, or “German measles,” is another previously eradicated disease in the U.S. that could see heightened levels of infection if vaccination rates remain the same.
According to the World Health Organization, before the introduction of the vaccine, up to 4 babies in every 1,000 births were born with rubella. The condition remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable birth defects worldwide.
Pregnant women are unable to get the vaccine because it contains the live virus. So, as community immunity weakens, the risk of rubella resurging grows, placing unborn children and expectant mothers in preventable danger.
Polio could return
Polio, a disease that once paralyzed and killed thousands of children across the U.S., could also reemerge if vaccination rates continue to fall.
Though declared eliminated in the country in 1979, the virus still exists in parts of the world and can be reintroduced through international travel. With polio vaccination rates declining in 30 states, the risk of outbreaks grows, potentially leading to thousands of cases in the coming decades.
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