The coming infectious disease apocalypse

As I’ve said here before, together with water purification and sanitary sewers, vaccines are a triumph of public health. Hundreds of millions of lived (at least) have been saved by vaccination, not just as a direct result of immunization but indirectly by slowing the rate of pathogen evolution. It is both shocking and frankly dangerous that in the wealthiest nation on the planet, there is growing resistance to vaccines:

“Childhood vaccination rates against dangerous infections like measles and polio continue to fall nationwide, and the number of parents claiming non-medical exemptions so their kids don't get required shots is rising.

 

“In 2024, whooping cought cases reached a decade-high and 16 measles outbreaks, the largest among them in Chicago and Minnesota, put health officials on edge. Most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners -- the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

 

“About half of Americans are "very" or "extremely" concerned that those declining childhood vaccination rates will lead to more outbreaks, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Yet only about four in 10 Americans oppose reconsidering the government's recommendations for widely used vaccines, while roughly three in 10 are in favor. The rest -- about three in 10 -- are neutral.”


There are new pandemic threats (see, e.g., bird flu) emerging all the time. The last thing we need is pandemics of preventable diseases.

 https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/113952?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2025-01-27&mh=eb71348a5ff6ae370cc6759bc5dc3300&zdee=gAAAAABm4u1YoCP4y5SBTJUyUyqo9KxZhft26L1xeGdP0BzzQQN1Pb_ifR6vFqhFh-3U6Q_nU7DbA-EawzzXKxSRhMOwjrOGuOKbf7OE641eN0HfnK6eObE%3D&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Evening%20-%20Randomized%202025-01-27&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition


 

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