Public not highly knowledgeable about measles risks or MMR vaccine safety
A recent health survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that the public is less informed than it should be of measles-related risks and less certain than it used to be of the value of vaccination.
2 min. read
Nearly 1,650 cases of measles in 42 states have been confirmed this year in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the largest annual number in 34 years, and public health experts such as Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, suspect the actual total could be higher.
Over two decades after the CDC declared measles “eliminated” from the United States in 2000, a status that signifies the absence of “the continuous spread of the disease” for more than 12 months, and in the wake of COVID-19 vaccines and others being called into question, a new health survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) finds that the public is less informed than it should be of the dangers of measles—a highly contagious disease that can lead to death or disability—and less certain than it used to be of the value of vaccination.
The survey, conducted in August among nearly 1,700 U.S. adults on a nationally representative panel, shows that while most U.S. adults would recommend that eligible children in their household get the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, the percentage has declined significantly since November 2024.
It also finds the public is confused about whether the top U.S. health official, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recommends that children be vaccinated against measles; that most Americans believe that vaccines like the MMR vaccine do not cause autism—but significantly fewer know this than in recent years; that over half of those surveyed are not sure whether a mercury-based preservative in some vaccines affects a person’s chances of developing autism, when evidence has shown no link between the preservative and autism; and that a quarter of the public thinks getting the measles is likely to be less deadly than it is, among numerous other key takeaways.
“Mixed messages about the safety and efficacy of measles vaccination from those leading health agencies fuel confusion and cultivate a climate that is hospitable to an otherwise preventable and sometimes deadly disease,” says APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson.
Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
New research involving Penn Engineering shows detailed variation in lipid nanoparticle size, shape, and internal structure, and finds that such factors correlate with how well they deliver therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.
A generous gift from alumni Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman brings the work of internationally acclaimed artist Jaume Plensa to the University of Pennsylvania. The latest addition to the Penn Art Collection expands Philadelphia's public art.
A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.
