We study pandemics, and the resurgence of measles is a grim sign of what’s coming

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/we-study-pandemics-and-the-resurgence-of-measles-is-a-grim-sign-of-whats-coming/

8 Comments

  1. DocumentExternal6240 on

    „Around 90 percent of the US population has received the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, and in some regions of the country, the rate is below 60 percent. Since about 2019-2020, that overall number has dropped below the 95 percent needed for herd immunity. It is necessary to keep that rate nationally, but maintaining herd immunity at the local level is equally important in order to prevent measles from finding pockets of unvaccinated communities.“

    This is what so many people don’t understand – it’s not a personal choice only because it affects many.

  2. People might start rethinking their anti-vax position if typhus, cholera, diphtheria, polio, TB etc etc etc start making a comeback. And family members start dying. I have a friend who won’t take the Covid vaccination. I said, “so you’d rather get Covid and possibly die than get the vaccine” and she said yes. I can’t understand this kind of thinking. Vaccines are a gift!

  3. Real-Olive-4624 on

    > The virus can also affect the immune system, making people more susceptible to other infections over the long term, even ones they’ve had before.

    This is the real dangerous part, in terms of pandemics. Measels epidemics mean people losing immunity to a variety of diseases, which is a fantastic breeding ground for subsequent epidemics/pandemics

  4. The question I have, as a fully vaccinated 70-year-old male, is what vaccines might I have missed because the disease was presumed eradicated in the US? Given the way things are headed now, are there additional vaccinations I should get?

    I actually had measles, chicken pox, and mumps, because the vaccines were not widely available at the time. But I did have all of the recommended vaccines even before the “cleanup pass” in elementary school. (They vaccinated kids that hadn’t had some set of vaccines yet.) I’ve kept vaccinations up as an adult as well – especially including shingles, since I know I would be susceptible. But for instance, I’m not sure if I actually had a tuberculosis vaccine or merely a tuberculosis test as a kid.

  5. MarryMeDuffman on

    Anti vaxxers and sane people may need to live in seperate communities one day. Just until Darwinism does what it does.

  6. The absolute majority of deaths during Covid were elderly. Children were rarely seriously ill and their mortality was tiny.

    Measles doesn’t discriminate against infants and children.

    Covid
    R0: 2.5-6
    Child mortality: <0.004%
    Hospitalization: 3-4%

    Measles
    R0: 12-18
    Child mortality: 0.1-0.3%
    Hospitalization: 25%

    Imagine a mutation of measles that the current vaccine doesn’t cover. >2-3x more contagious than Covid. Children start dying on day 10 and 25% need hospitalization.

    We were given a warning shot with Covid.

    What happens when the children start dying? When 25% are in hospital?