What steps, if any, does the public need to take to protect against the rising number of measles cases? NPR speaks with Dr. Preeti Malani, infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There are now 164 reported cases of measles in the U.S. The death of a child in Texas was the first measles-related death in the U.S. in a decade. So with this outbreak of a disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. 25 years ago because of the MMR vaccine, how can people protect themselves?
I spoke with doctor Preeti Malani. She’s an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan. I asked for her top recommendations for someone worried they or their kids might get infected.
PREETI MALANI: It’s good to remind folks that vaccination’s the best way to protect not just individuals, but also entire communities from infections and outbreaks. And vaccination’s also the most effective way to curtail an outbreak.
FADEL: And if you have the vaccine, which the vast majority of Americans do have the vaccine, are you definitely immune in an outbreak?
MALANI: That’s a good question. This is a really effective vaccine, and by that I mean that even with a single dose, the effectiveness is probably around the order of 93%. And most people have had two doses, which puts the effectiveness closer to 95, 97%. So this is highly effective at preventing measles, but in a setting where there’s a lot of measles in a community, it’s not 100%.
FADEL: Now, the United States secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a known vaccine skeptic. And when this outbreak was brought up at a cabinet meeting recently, he kind of played it down. I’ll just play what he said that day for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: There have been four measles outbreaks this year. In this country last year, there were 16. So it’s not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year.
FADEL: So we hear him there saying it’s not unusual. This is before the outbreak got even worse. But then over the weekend, he penned an op-ed where he didn’t exactly urge people to get the vaccine but said it contributes to community immunity, it can protect individuals from the measles and that it’s a personal choice. So Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, now sort of calling for the vaccine. What do you make of his approach here?
MALANI: Well, I’m happy to hear support for vaccination. One thing that is concerning to me is just how contentious all of this has become. You know, science and public health shouldn’t be things that divide us. But the reality is there’s an enormous amount of misinformation out there, and for the secretary to state that vaccination’s important is helpful. And I am heartened by the fact that there are reports on the ground in Texas and other places – is that families are coming with their children who haven’t been vaccinated to be vaccinated, which means that some good conversations probably happened. I think those are the important things that we need to talk about. But the way that this outbreak will be controlled is through vaccination.
FADEL: I wanted to ask of another question about something that Secretary Kennedy wrote in his op-ed. He also wrote about vitamin A – that it is effective in treating measles infections and can reduce measles mortality. The CDC is now recommending it under his guidance. Is this a proven and effective treatment?
MALANI: Well, vitamin A has been used particularly for measles in children in developing nations, in low- and middle-income countries where deficiencies of vitamins are more common. Now, in the United States, vitamin A deficiency is not common.
And is it harmful? Perhaps not because there’s not beyond what we call supportive care. If you are ill with measles and you’re in the hospital, there’s not an antiviral that’s been approved in this case. So giving an appropriate dose of vitamin A is probably not harmful, but I want to emphasize that vitamin A is not an alternative to MMR vaccination.
FADEL: So are there people who’ve already been vaccinated who may want to get vaccinated against measles again?
MALANI: Well, there are some adults who may have only had one dose or adults that are going to be in a setting where there’s high risk for measles transmission. And those are sort of limited numbers. International travelers are one subgroup – health care professionals. So there are some situations in which adults might benefit with a second dose, but for most people – particularly those who’ve had two doses – they don’t need to get a booster.
FADEL: Dr. Preeti Malani is an infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan. Dr. Malani, thank you for joining us.
MALANI: Thank you.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.