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In 2000, the United States achieved a historic public health goal: the elimination of measles, defined by the absence of sustained transmission of the virus for more than 12 months. This achievement resulted from a concerted effort by health care practitioners and families alike, working to protect the population through widespread immunization. Unfortunately, that momentous achievement was short-lived, and localized measles outbreaks have recently been triggered by travel-related introductions of the virus by infected persons, with subsequent spread through undervaccinated subpopulations. (Catharine I. Paules, Hilary D. Marston and Anthony S. Fauci, 6/6)

Constitutional law is clear that states may require individual liberty to yield to reasonable public health regulations, including mandatory vaccination laws that threaten fines. As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which encompasses New York State, recently noted, arguments that such laws infringe impermissibly on liberty are “foreclosed.” States may also require vaccinations for school admission and forgo religious exemptions to such laws. Notably, mandatory vaccination is not forcible vaccination. But the city’s “shall be vaccinated” language appears to leave the latter option open, and the health commissioner said it could be considered on a “case-by-case basis.” That suggestion is startling.(Julie D. Cantor, 6/5)

The United States has been experiencing an increasing number of measles outbreaks, and more measles cases were reported in the first 5 months of 2019 than in any full year since 1992, which was 8 years before endemic transmission was interrupted. Parents’ resistance to vaccination is leaving more children vulnerable to measles and various other preventable illnesses. Some of these children have begun to seek opportunities to revisit vaccine-refusal decisions made on their behalf by their parents and are now pursuing vaccination. (Ross D. Silverman, Douglas J. Opel and Saad B. Omer, 6/5)