As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge
CBSN
Health officials in western Texas are trying to contain a measles outbreak among mostly school-aged children, with at least 15 confirmed cases. It's the latest outbreak of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in the U.S., and it comes as vaccination rates are declining — jeopardizing the country's herd immunity from widespread outbreaks.
Tiffany Vargas, a mom who lives in the Tampa area, says her 8-year-old daughter has not received childhood vaccines. That includes vaccines for measles, chickenpox and polio.
"I started doing research, and I saw that a lot of doctors were just having a really hard time answering the questions that I had," Vargas told CBS News.
The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection since a 2017 surge of the illness, which is also known as pertussis.
As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge
Health officials in western Texas are trying to contain a measles outbreak among mostly school-aged children, with at least 15 confirmed cases. It's the latest outbreak of a disease that had been virtually eliminated in the U.S., and it comes as vaccination rates are declining — jeopardizing the country's herd immunity from widespread outbreaks.