Sacramento, California – December 10th, 2025- One of the most secure, simplest, and most efficient methods to stop illnesses is through vaccination. Following the recommended vaccination schedule can greatly lower your child’s risk of contracting serious illnesses like the flu, whooping cough, or measles. Yet, in 2025, we have seen a significant uptick in measles cases making it to be the highest since the illness was declared eliminated in 2000 (U.S. measles cases hit highest level since declared eliminated in 2000, 2025).
A severe measles outbreak that began in West Texas, centered in Gaines County, in early 2025 and has since expanded to other nearby states, including New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arizona. This outbreak linked to over ten counties and there is at least two confirmed fatalities among school-age children who were not vaccinated. Texas reported 762 cases as of August 12th and at least three people have died including several more that have been hospitalized. This outbreak has now topped 1,356 cases in 40 states (Sun Texas Declares Measles Outbreak Over, 2025)
As reported by the CDC, a total of 1,828 measles cases were confirmed in the United States for the year 2025. Of these cases, 480 were children under 5 years of age, 735 were youth ages 5 to 19, 601 were adults ages 20 and over, and 12 cases were of unknown ages. A striking 92 percent of cases occurred in individuals who were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Only 4 percent had received one dose of the MMR vaccine, and another 4 percent had received both recommended doses (Measles Cases and Outbreaks, CDC, 2025).
While vaccines are carefully developed to ensure their effectiveness and safety, some people do have their reservations towards them. Anti-vaccine views have gained popularity and according to Dr. Peter Hotez in an article titled, As Measles Gains Ground in US, Texas Offers Lessons From its Outbreak, “Unfortunately, what you have now is a very corrupt health and wellness influencer industry that is pushing interventions [without any evidence-based research] as an alternative to vaccination, and that’s not how it works.” With the United States already reporting more measles cases in the first few months of 2025 than in the entire year of 2024, health professionals attribute the rise of measles to under-vaccination in local regions when just two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against the illness (Schreiber, 2025).
Francis Home, a Scottish physician, discovered in 1757 that an infectious substance in the blood is what causes measles. With over 6,000 deaths recorded each year during the first ten years, measles was declared a nationally notifiable disease in the United States by 1912. Nearly all children had measles before the vaccine’s launch in 1963, which resulted in millions of infections, hundreds of fatalities, and thousands of hospitalizations annually. John Enders and Dr. Thomas Peebles isolated the virus for the first time in 1954, which paved the way for the creation of the Edmonston-B strain vaccine. Since 1968, the Edmonston-Ender’s strain, a safer variant, has been utilized in the United States, usually as a component of the MMR or MMRV vaccine (History of Measles, CDC, 2024).
The recommended vaccination schedule has been carefully developed to match the timing of exposure risk with when a child’s immune system will react most effectively. To make sure they are safe and effective when given at the recommended age, these vaccinations undergo extensive testing. In every aspect, vaccination from a scientifically supported schedule is a far better method to avoid a disease than to cure it after it has spread. Vaccines do not overload or damage the immune system; in fact, receiving many vaccinations at once is totally safe for both adults and children, which helps cut down on the number of shots required. Mercury (thiomersal) is not included in vaccines, and they only contain extremely small quantities of necessary chemicals, none of which are dangerous (NHS, 2023).
Vaccines help shield you and your children from several dangerous and potentially fatal illnesses. You can protect others in your family and community by assisting in preventing the transmission of illnesses to individuals who are unable to receive vaccinations, such as infants who are too young or too sick to receive them. Before being released, they go through extensive safety testing, and once released, they are continuously checked for adverse effects. Vaccines have the ability to reduce or even eliminate some illnesses if a sufficient amount of people receive vaccinations. Vaccines can result in minor side effects that pass quickly. For two or three days, you could feel a little ill and have a painful arm. (NHS, 2023).
Sacramento Native American Health Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Federally Qualified Health Center committed to continue and share the legacy of a healthy American Indian / Alaska Native community based on cultural values delivered through a traditional, innovative and accessible patient-centered health home. SNAHC offers primary care, oral health, behavioral health, specialty, and supportive services in Midtown and South Sacramento plus a school-based health center. We are open to all, and all are welcome. For more information on SNAHC, visit www.snahc.org or call 916-341-0575 for an appointment.
# # #
Uncategorized