While the most serious measles epidemic in a decade has led to the deaths of two children and spread to 27 states with no signs of letting up, beliefs about the safety of the measles vaccine and the threat of the disease are sharply polarized, fed by the anti-vaccine views of the country\u2019s seniormost health official.<\/p>\n
About two-thirds of Republican-leaning parents are unaware of an uptick in measles cases this year while about two-thirds of Democratic ones knew about it, according to a KFF survey released Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Republicans are far more skeptical of vaccines and twice as likely (1 in 5) as Democrats (1 in 10) to believe the measles shot is worse than the disease, according to the survey of 1,380 U.S. adults.<\/p>\n Some 35% of Republicans answering the survey, which was conducted April 8-15 online and by telephone, said the discredited theory linking the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism was definitely or probably true \u2014 compared with just 10% of Democrats.<\/p>\n The trends are roughly the same as KFF reported in a June 2023 survey. But in the new poll, 3 in 10 parents erroneously believed that vitamin A can prevent measles infections, a theory Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has brought into play since taking office during the measles outbreak.<\/p>\n About 900 cases have been reported in 27 U.S. states, mostly in a West Texas-centered outbreak.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most alarming thing about the survey is that we\u2019re seeing an uptick in the share of people who have heard these claims,\u201d said co-author Ashley Kirzinger, associate director of KFF\u2019s Public Opinion and Survey Research Program. KFF is a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that more people are believing the autism theory, but more and more people are hearing about it,\u201d Kirzinger said. Since doubts about vaccine safety directly reduce parents\u2019 vaccination of their children, \u201cthat shows how important it is for actual information to be part of the media landscape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what one would expect when people are confused by conflicting messages coming from people in positions of authority,\u201d said Kelly Moore, president and CEO of Immunize.org, a vaccination advocacy group.<\/p>\n Numerous scientific studies have established no link between any vaccine and autism. But Kennedy has ordered HHS to undertake an investigation of possible environmental contributors to autism, promising to have \u201csome of the answers<\/a>\u201d behind an increase in the incidence of the condition by September.<\/p>\n The deepening Republican skepticism toward vaccines makes it hard for accurate information to break through in many parts of the nation, said Rekha Lakshmanan, chief strategy officer at The Immunization Partnership, in Houston.<\/p>\n Lakshmanan on April 23 was to present a paper on countering anti-vaccine activism to the World Vaccine Congress in Washington. It was based on a survey that found that in the Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma state assemblies, lawmakers with medical professions were among those least likely to support public health measures.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a political layer that influences these lawmakers,\u201d she said. When lawmakers invite vaccine opponents to testify at legislative hearings, for example, it feeds a deluge of misinformation that is difficult to counter, she said.<\/p>\n Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Ladera Ranch, California, which was hit by a 2014-15 measles outbreak that started in Disneyland, said fear of measles and tighter California state restrictions on vaccine exemptions had staved off new infections in his Orange County community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest downside of measles vaccines is that they work really well. Everyone gets vaccinated, no one gets measles, everyone forgets about measles,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when it comes back, they realize there are kids getting really sick and potentially dying in my community, and everyone says, \u2018Holy crap; we better vaccinate!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ball treated three very sick children with measles in 2015. Afterward his practice stopped seeing unvaccinated patients. \u201cWe had had babies exposed in our waiting room,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had disease spreading in our office, which was not cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Although two otherwise healthy young girls died of measles during the Texas outbreak, \u201cpeople still aren\u2019t scared of the disease,\u201d said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has seen a few cases.<\/p>\n But the deaths \u201chave created more angst, based on the number of calls I\u2019m getting from parents trying to vaccinate their 4-month-old and 6-month-old babies,\u201d Offit said. Children generally get their first measles shot at age 1, because it tends not to produce full immunity if given at a younger age.<\/p>\n KFF Health News\u2019 Jackie Forti\u00e9r contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n