Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in the News
"Forgetting to Remember: Lessons from a Vaccine Lost"
Forgetting to Remember – Lessons from a Vaccine Lost explores how easy it is to lose a vaccine and the consequences that follow. After the U.S. military balked at supporting upgrades to equipment and facilities where the adenovirus vaccine was produced, production was stopped. Almost immediately, recruits started becoming ill with adenovirus. After reevaluating their need to prevent adenovirus through vaccination, it took 10 years to reintroduce a vaccine. During that time, countless military recruits fell ill, and eight died. This cautionary tale offers an opportunity to consider what will happen if routinely recommended childhood vaccines suffer the same fate.
September 2026: Why separating and spacing out vaccines is bad advice
Dr. Paul Offit discusses the history behind the false notion that too many vaccines overwhelm the immune system, leading to autism. He explains that it’s not the number of vaccines that matter, but rather it’s the number of immunological components in vaccines that should be considered when thinking about the effects on the immune system. He goes on to explain, using himself and his grandchildren as an example, that infants today receive far fewer immunological components in the 17 vaccines recommended today than from the two vaccines he received as a child (about 160 today vs. about 3,200, respectively).
Dr. Offit warns that spacing out vaccines increases stress for the child receiving the shots, as well as for their parents. Furthermore, delaying or spacing vaccinations increases the time during which children are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases while offering no benefit.
Measles resources
In 2025, there were 2,286 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. As of August 28, 2026, there have been 2,999 confirmed cases and two deaths.
For more information related to measles, see these resources:
- Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR): video | podcast | related webpage
- Measles, Mumps & Rubella (infographic): PDF (English | Spanish) | PNG
- Measles: What You Should Know (Q&A): English | Spanish
- Rash Information, includes measles image and information (webpage)
- Parents PACK Personal Stories – Measles (webpage)
- Measles infections, outbreaks & vaccines playlist (17 videos)
- October 2025 – Does Splitting MMR Into 3 Vaccines Serve Public Health? (video)
- August 2026: “Please, please vaccinate your children” — An update on measles (video)
Impact of vaccines and evaluating information resources
- The Impact of Vaccines (webpage)
- Vaccine History: Developments by Year (webpage)
- Vaccine History: Vaccine Availability Timeline (webpage)
- Evaluating Information (website section)
- July 2026: 2 reasons immunization rates are declining among kindergarteners (video)
Ebola and hantavirus resources
- Ebola: video | podcast | related webpage
- Hantavirus
- Experts convened by WHO advise on candidate treatments and vaccines for Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus
- WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States
- June 2026: 3 Takeaways from Recent Ebola and Hantavirus Headlines
Vaccine schedule resources
- Science Behind the Vaccine Schedule (webpage)
- Science-based vaccine recommendations (webpage)
- Global Immunization: Controlling the Spread of Disease (webpage)
- Vaccines & Diseases (webpages)
- Recommended Immunization Schedule: What You Should Know (Q&A) – English | Spanish | Japanese (PDF)
- When Individual Doctors Make Their Own Schedules (Q&A) (PDF)
- VEC Vaccine Notes (videos and podcasts)
- CHOP’s Response to Recommended Changes to the Childhood Vaccine Schedule (webpage)
- January 2026: Why the recent CDC changes to the vaccine schedule don’t make sense (video)
Last updated: Sept. 1, 2026