Researchers Warn of Reemergence of Vaccine-preventable Diseases Amid Pandemic

When the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced 50 years ago, its widespread use led to a more than 95% decline in cases of the three diseases. Yet today, the United States is encountering higher levels of measles and mumps disease than has occurred for years. A special article, “The Importance of MMR Immunization in the United States,” published in the August 2020 Pediatrics (published online July 27), examines trends in the epidemiology of measles, mumps, and rubella in recent years and considers the consequences of loss of protective immunity within our country. Among children 19 to 35 months of age (born in 2015–2016) in the United States,90.4% have been immunized with one or more doses of the MMR vaccine, but unimmunized and under-immunized children in certain subpopulations have resulted in clusters of measles outbreaks in vulnerable communities where immunization rates are low. The authors state that a safe and effective vaccine will be necessary to protect against the COVID-19 virus - and note the consequences of false concerns by antivaccine activists regarding vaccine safety. After administration of hundreds of millions of doses, the safety and effectiveness of MMR is without question, they conclude.