MMR vaccine management preparations are depicted on February 27, 2025 during a drive for the Lubbock Health Department in Lubbock, Texas.
Annie Rice | Reuters
A version of this article first appeared on CNBC’s Healthy Returns Newsletter. This will bring you the latest healthcare news directly to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.
I’m here to bring you the latest on measles outbreaks in the US
The country declared that measles had been excluded 25 years ago. In other words, thanks to a highly effective vaccine, there has been no continuous infection of the disease for over a year. But now, one of the worst outbreaks since then is concentrated in West Texas, reaching New Mexico and now Oklahoma.
These cases are:
There have been 259 measles cases in the West Texas outbreak so far, with at least one unvaccinated child dead, according to the state health department. Most cases – 201 – are in children and teenagers. The new Mexico has the second highest case at age 35, and the state says an unvaccinated adult has died from birth. Oklahoma has four cases reported so far, according to the state’s health department. There have been several isolated cases reported in more than 12 other states, but this does not appear to be related to the Texas outbreak.
The number of confirmed cases in the US this year already surpasses 285 reported nationwide in all 2024, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Still, the CDC says the national risk of measles remains low and that vaccination is key to prevention.
However, the problem is measles, mumps, and Levella vaccine vaccination rates (called MMR).
Health policy and public health experts told CNBC that low intake of its shots and other everyday childhood vaccinations could be attributed to several factors. This includes more vaccine hesitation due to misinformation and controversy about Covid vaccines, and among other issues, mistrust of public health officials and their requirements.
CDC data shows that in all fourth graders since the pandemic began, MMR vaccination rates are below the 95% “Healthy People 2030” target rate. This refers to the level necessary to prevent the transmission of the measles community, a highly contagious and deadly virus.
According to the CDC, in the 2023-2024 school year alone, around 280,000 school children were not vaccinated and were not protected against measles.
Clusters of unvaccinated people within certain communities increase the risk of disease outbreaks, health experts told CNBC. For example, the rate of pediatric vaccination for measles in Gaines County, the epicenter of Texas’ current outbreak, is just below 82%.
Shelley Andrews holds Jaqi Herrera’s hand for 13 months after administering her first MMR vaccine dose to Herrera at the Lubbock Health Department in Lubbock, Texas on February 27, 2025.
Annie Rice | Reuters
A group of doctors believe that national recommendations for the MMR vaccine should be updated, according to an article published in the medical journal JAMA on Friday.
A group, including former CDC director Rochelle Walensky, said it would be necessary to recommend a third dose for six- to 11-month-old infants traveling to areas where there is a high probability of measles exposure. In particular, some local and state jurisdictions have already begun doing that.
“Coupled with low vaccination rates, it indicates that multiple recent outbreaks of US measles have led to an increased risk in the country,” the doctor wrote.
“Modernizing vaccination recommendations will better protect at-risk communities and the US population, the most vulnerable to measles – infants,” they added.
According to a group of doctors, infants under the age of 1 year are at increased risk for severe measles-related complications such as pneumonia, brain swelling, and brain swelling and death.
Currently, the CDC recommends that all children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine. This starts with the first dose from 12 to 15 months and the second dose at age 4 to 6 years.
According to the CDC, one dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. There are only a few special cases for the third dose.
Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is spreading misinformation about the MMR vaccine.
Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, told Fox News last week that MMR shots cause death each year, and is a “collapsing disease” such as blindness and inflammation in the brain.
However, the American Infectious Diseases Association states that “there are no deaths related to measles, mumps or rubella vaccines in healthy people.” The tissue said there were only rare cases of death in immunocompromised children.
Kennedy is also promoting an unconventional treatment regimen for measles, which contains vitamin A-rich cod liver oil. Health experts say they are not intended to treat measles.
We are continuing to experience measles outbreaks, so stay tuned for our latest updates.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at Annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
Latest in Healthcare Technology: Google shares healthcare product updates at checkup
This is Ashley and we’re reporting a live show from New York City!
I’m here GoogleToday we are the office of the company’s annual healthcare event called The Check Up. Many Google executives, including Chief Health Officer Dr. Karen DeSalvo, took to the stage last year to talk about the company’s work in this sector.
The biggest news for consumers like me was about updating Google searches. The company has announced a new feature called “What People Prossing,” which uses artificial intelligence to compile online commentary from patients with similar diagnoses. If a patient with arthritis wants to know more about how other people with a condition exercise, for example, they could check its function. It will be available on US mobile devices starting Tuesday.
Google said it expanded its knowledge panel, or information box that appears next to search results, to cover “thousands of” health topics. The panel comes to new countries in additional languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese, starting with mobile devices.
The company launched a medical record API within the Health Connect platform, allowing Android users to share data across a variety of apps and devices. The API representing the application programming interface allows various apps to communicate with each other. Google’s new API allows apps to read medical record data from users, including medications, vaccinations, allergies, and labs in a secure format.
Last month, Google announced that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved a loss of the Pixel Watch 3’s pulse detection capabilities. During the event Tuesday, Google said the feature will be available to US users by the end of the month.
The main theme of the keynote speech was AI. This is where Google has focused on many of its healthcare innovation efforts in recent years.
The company’s work within the health sector has evolved over time, especially as it struggled to identify a permanent health business strategy. Google has built an official health unit around 2018, but disbanded in 2021.
“The extraordinary advancements in AI provide an opportunity to rethink the entire health experience,” Desalvo said at the event.
Google announced TXGEMMA on Tuesday. This is a suite of models that will help speed up the drug discovery process. The company also highlighted its work on a protein prediction model called Alphafold, and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year.
Learn more about everything Google has announced in its checkup.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.
