Telemedicine has its limits. And postponing shots could lead to a resurgence of diseases like measles. Doctors are taking steps to make their offices safe for kids who need to come in.
Another reason not to skip the measles vaccine: A measles infection may cause lasting harm to the immune system, research finds, making patients more vulnerable to other diseases.
The government wants to withhold flu shots from migrants in detention centers even though doctors advise vaccinations for all detainees promptly upon arrival.
Vaccination eliminated measles from the U.S. nearly 20 years ago. But with this year's record-setting outbreak, are we close to measles making a sustained comeback?
The bill removes the personal belief exemption from required childhood vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella. Seventeen states allow exemptions based on philosophical objections.
Temple University officials say the vast majority of students who are part of a mumps outbreak had been immunized previously with a vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
Families learn to be skeptical about vaccines in communities where incomplete vaccination is the norm. A researcher into the phenomenon found that people are ready to listen, if they're heard, too.
So far this year, 55 measles cases have been confirmed in Washington state, most of them in unvaccinated children. The outbreak's epicenter is Clark County, Wash., just north of Portland, Ore.
As of Monday, public health authorities reported 36 cases, most affecting children under the age of 10. All but four of those with the highly contagious disease have not been vaccinated.
In California, the flu has struck early and hard this season. Health experts aren't sure why. The state's higher temperatures typically result in a later flu peak there than in other parts of the U.S.
Health officials fear the U.S. may have a nasty flu season because the main flu virus circulating this year tends to hit people hard and the flu vaccine may be weaker than normal.
State health officials are struggling to contain a measles outbreak that has sickened mostly Somali-American children. The vaccination rate is low in this tight community that's worried about autism.
Since August 2016, there have been nearly 3,000 cases of mumps diagnosed in Arkansas. A epidemiologist explains how her team used online data and mathematical modeling to understand the outbreak.
Data about the number of unvaccinated kids in individual public schools aren't available to parents in Texas. Some of them are looking to change the reporting requirements.
