United States: The current measles outbreak causing dead children in almost 30 states without sign of abating leads to deep disagreements between Americans about vaccine security and disease seriousness due to the anti-vaccine stance of the country’s top healthcare officer.
The KFF survey from Wednesday shows Republican parents represent about two-thirds who remained unaware of this year’s increase in measles cases, but Democratic parents made up the majority who were informed about it.
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The survey findings show Republicans exhibit stronger vaccine doubts by being 2 times as likely (1 in 5) than Democrats (1 in 10) to think the measles vaccination brings worse consequences than the actual disease.
The discredited vaccine-autism link theory was considered true by 35% of Republicans in the survey after the vaccine measles mumps and Rubella- autism link theory was dismissed, as well as 10% of Democratic respondents, as per US News reports.
The research patterns from KFF matched those of their June 2023 survey data.
Three in ten parents within the study demonstrated an incorrect understanding of vitamin A preventing measles based on a theory promoted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his term when the measles outbreak occurred.
Health departments in 29 US states have documented over 900 measles cases, while a majority of these reports have occurred around a West Texas-based region.
Measles misinformation is on the rise as cases continue to spread — and Americans are hearing it. Skepticism toward vaccines makes it hard for accurate information to break through.https://t.co/WJnXBVDBXS
— Ian Weissman, DO (@DrIanWeissman) April 24, 2025
According to co-author Ashley Kirzinger, associate director of KFF’s Public Opinion and Survey Research Program, “the most alarming thing about the survey is that we’re seeing an uptick in the share of people who have heard these claims,” US News reported.
“It’s not that more people are believing the autism theory, but more and more people are hearing about it,” Kirzinger noted.
Furthermore, since doubts about vaccine safety directly reduce parents’ vaccination of their children, “that shows how important it is for actual information to be part of the media landscape,” she added.