by By Dan Levine and Michael Erman
The entry rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, died in the school year in the school year in the year earlier among the federal data published on Thursday at the kindergartens.
The US centers for the control and prevention of diseases have published the new figures at a time when the country is exposed to a growing measles outbreak. The confirmed cases this month has reached the highest level since the disease was equipped with the country in 2000.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary for Health and Human Services, has long questioned the security of vaccines in contrast to scientific evidence and he has also proposed a connection between vaccines and autism.
The CDC data show that vaccination rates have dropped steadily since the Covid 19 pandemic. For measles, mumps and rubella in the vaccine, the cover of 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year rose to 92.7% last year before landing 92.5% in 2024-2025. In Texas, the recent eruption epicenter, the MMR reporting from 96.9% fell to 93.2% in 2019.
Most people are protected from measles by herdism if more than 95% of people are vaccinated in the community, according to the CDC website.
An HHS spokesman said that the data published on Thursday showed that a “majority” of the children continue to receive routine vaccinations in childhood and that vaccination still the most effective way to protect children from measles and whooping cough.
“The decision to vaccination is personal,” said the spokesman. “Parents should consult their health service providers through options for their families.”
In addition, the exceptions from one or more vaccines in 2024-2025 rose to 3.6% compared to 3.3% in the previous year, according to the CDC website. Exceptions that can be granted for medical or religious reasons increased in 36 states and DC. 17 states reported exceptions over 5 percent, it said.
(Edited by Caroline Humer and David Gregorio)
