Reacción a "Measles and other preventable infections could return to the US"

The study recently published in the prestigious journal JAMA, and the press release accompanying it, show the implications that a decline in vaccination coverage for several key diseases, particularly measles, would have.

Using mathematical models, the authors establish the possible scenarios that the US could face in the event of a decline in vaccination coverage, as well as the overwhelming increase in the number of cases, outbreaks, associated complications and deaths from diseases that had already been eliminated. The ability to quantify the impact of declining vaccination coverage is the key value of the study, as it provides clear scientific arguments to be presented to health decision-makers, healthcare professionals and parents, who are ultimately the ones who decide whether or not to vaccinate their children.

The message conveyed is extremely important, even more so in the current situation in the United States, where not only anti-vaccine sentiment among the population could jeopardise the elimination of measles, but the government itself is questioning the effectiveness of vaccines.