As of this writing, April 13, 2025, confirmed cases of measles are expanding in Texas and bordering counties in New Mexico, and the Centers for Disease Control confirms cases in AK, CA, CO, FL, GA, KA, KN, ML, MN, NJ, NY, NYC, OH, OK, PA, RI, TN, VT, and WA, all totalling 712 cases. This is "well past the 285 cases reported for all of 2024" according to the CDC. ¹ [NOTE] This is the Measles information update page for the CDC.

Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as Surgeon General in the 1st Trump administration. wrote an op-ed piece for CNN indicating,

While some may believe that abstaining from vaccination keeps them healthier or more resistant to diseases, the reality is that their “immunity” has, until now, been borrowed from their vaccinated neighbors. This collective shield, known as herd immunity, is not automatic or enduring; it has been built over decades through high vaccination rates. Unfortunately, this protection is now eroding due to rising vaccine skepticism. Herd immunity works by ensuring that a high enough portion of the population is vaccinated so that highly contagious diseases like measles can’t find a vulnerable “host” to spread to. This strategy protects those who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons — and even those who refuse them for personal beliefs. However, as vaccine skepticism grows, many who have unwittingly benefited from herd immunity in the past are now at greater risk — ironically, from themselves.

Scretary Kennedy continues to downplay the significance of the outbreak, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity that immunity derived from the MMR/MMRV vaccines [Measles, Mumps, Rubella combined vaccice - or the Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella combined vaccine] "wane" by 4.5% per year. And further, he stated that the "measles vaccine does not appear to provide maternal immunity. Evidence suggests that vaccinated mothers pass fewer protective antibodies on to their babies than previously infected moms, but in both cases this protection wanes before the infant’s first year. The best way to ensure babies don’t contract measles is to vaccinate everyone around them." ³ In response, Dr. Michael Mina, formerly of the Harvard University School of Public Health, responded to this claim,

If we had 4.5% waning, then, you know, everyone who is an adult would be susceptible to measles since at that rate it would take only about 22 years to reach zero protection — and there would be thousands of measles cases in vaccinated people in the latest outbreak alone. And that’s just not what we see. ⁴

found that the waning of vaccine-induced immunity best explained observed measles transmission dynamics among vaccinated cases in England. In the scenario where waning started in 2000, the estimated waning rate was 0·039% per year (95% CrI 0·034–0·044%)... Our results suggest that the waning of vaccine-induced immunity likely explains the observed dynamics and age distribution of vaccinated measles cases in England between 2010 and 2019. Many near-elimination countries have reported decreased vaccine coverage since 2020, on future measles dynamics will be paramount to anticipating and responding to the burden of measles in countries where incidence has been low for decades. ⁵

And Further yet, a French study reported that,

We estimated that VE was slowly decreasing over time, with an exponential decay rate of 0.0022/year (0.0017-0.0028), leading to VE of 96.7 % (96.0-97.4) 16 years after MCV2 vaccination. This decline was most compatible with scenario 2, a scenario of 4.4 % naturally immunized, non-vaccinated individuals in the 26-31 years old... Our Study confirms the continued high effectiveness of two doses of MCV with only slight degradation, decades after immunization. These findings support the importance of achieving a very high vaccination coverage with 2 doses of MCV. ⁶

As for Secretary Kennedy's statements regarding the MMR vaccine and the mother's ability to protect an infant from a measles infection by extending her immunity,

One of the problems is it does not appear to provide maternal immunity. You don’t want a very — 1-year-old kid getting measles. That’s very dangerous. They were protected by breast milk, and by maternal immunity. And women who get vaccinated do not provide that level of maternal immunity that the natural measles infection did.⁷

Experts were quick to point out that, while previously infected mothers can transfer higher levels of antibodies, the best scenario would find newborns and infants too young to be vaccinated in a community where those around them were vaccinated - "low to no circulation of active measles which is achieved with high vaccine coverage."

Yet, as Dr. Katelyn Jetelina from the Your Local Epidemiologist site points out, measles typically causes 1-3 deaths per 1,000 unvaccinated cases, but with 3 deaths now reported among otherwise healthy, school aged, unvaccinated children, we would expect upwards of 1,000-3,000 confirmed cases of measles, rather than merely 607. Are case being seriously underreported, and for what reason? While 3 deaths among such a small cohort is not impossible, it certainly is disconcerting in combination with the general dearth of information traditionally available to epidemiololgists in such outbreaks.

And lastly, the CDC maintains a complete guide for parents Here

¹ https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

² https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/health/jerome-adams-measles-herd-immunity/index.html

³ https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369907937112

⁴ https://www.factcheck.org/2025/03/rfk-jr-misleads-about-measles-vaccine-in-hannity-interview/

⁵ Robert, A, Suffel, AM, Kucharski, AJ. Long-term waning of vaccine-induced immunity to measles in England: a mathematical modelling study. The Lancet Public Health. Volume 9, Issue 10e766-e775October 2024.

⁶ Franconeri, L., et al. Two-dose measles vaccine effectiveness remains high over time: A French observational study, 2017-2019. Vaccine. 2023 Sep 7;41(39):5797-5804. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.08.018. Epub 2023 Aug 14.

⁷ Ibid, op cit.