Measles cases have surged to scary new heights under Trump and RFK Jr. [View all]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, must be jumping for joy because his apparent goal of making measles great again is finally becoming a reality.

The dangerous disease, which was considered eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is making a full and terrifying comeback. Over 1,277 cases have popped up this year alone, according to data from John Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation. The disease has hit 38 states and the District of Columbia. So far, there have been 155 hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths caused by measles.

This year’s severe outbreak is due largely to lower childhood vaccination rates, which RFK Jr. played a hand in as a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. So far this year, two healthy but unvaccinated children and one man have died so far, matching the total number of measles-related deaths that occurred between 2001 and 2024.

Amid this worrying situation, Kennedy, in his new role, has steered pushing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further away from vaccines. He has fired experts on a federal vaccine panel and canceled grants that fund research around critical vaccine research, all with President Donald Trump’s complicity.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/8/2332209/-Measles-cases-have-surged-to-scary-new-heights-under-Trump-and-RFK-Jr