Recent events in our country regarding immigration, constitutional rights, and due process have been in the news and garnering needed attention. While these events are critically important to our democracy and rule of law, there has also been a health-related series of events unfolding at the same time in multiple states across our country. As of February 12th, 2026, there were 910 confirmed measles cases reported in the United States in 2026. Comparing that with the previous winter and early spring measles season of last year, it is becoming very clear that this vaccine preventable disease is having a very real resurgence. For those who study viruses and their transmission, it is little surprise that measles transmission is increasing so rapidly. The ease by which it is transmitted is one of its hallmarks. What makes this winter’s outbreaks so frustrating is that measles is a largely preventable infection in populations receiving the MMR vaccine.
Discussions of vaccine hesitancy are commonplace both in social media, the lay press, as well as in our medical literature. As with so many discussions in the public sphere in recent years, opinions are varied and passions run deep. Without delving too deep into the partisan aspect of this decision, there has been a significant shift in federal policy regarding vaccines, both in the scientific review process and subsequent policy determinations. Earlier in 2025, there were significant changes in the makeup of the both the membership of the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices (ACIP) and how vaccine policy was reviewed and created. These sweeping changes were followed by significant alterations in the recommendations of vaccines by ACIP. These changes have led to a loss in expertise in the committee and a crisis in confidence in the recommendations being made. In brief, our national standards have been compromised.
In response to the changes in federal policy, it is very telling to see how different organizations have responded to these changes. Some professional organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have been very direct in clearly confronting these decisions being made at the federal level. They recognize these sweeping changes conflict with the scientific evidence, placing patients and their families at risk. Other Academies, such as the AAFP, have followed the leadership of these vanguard organizations. We are all in debt for their brave and clear response.
For those engaged locally in the conversations with our patients regarding vaccines, it is abundantly clear that federal policy and the rhetoric surrounding it have dramatically influenced patients and their decisions about vaccines. Daily, my colleagues and I in primary care are having candid and clear conversations with our patients regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness. That alone is not enough. I am deeply concerned that the American Medical Association has not meaningfully added its voice and influence on the public discourse. It is time that the American Medical Association makes it very clear the intentional erosion of public trust in medicine and the scientific process is unacceptable and places lives of children and their families at risk for injury and death. It must stand up and be counted endorsing scientific rigor, sound public health policy, and a position that clearly counters the unacceptable undermining of confidence in vaccination, one of the most successful medical interventions of the past 100 years. Behind each of those numbers of measles cases is a person, usually a child, who is fighting an extremely dangerous virus all too often without the benefit of vaccination.
Yours in health,
Dr. Matt
Matthew Howie MD
President, York County Medical Society