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Before the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Americans faced measles infections each year. The advent of vaccination eliminated the disease in the United States by 2000. But outbreaks have returned to some U.S. communities as trust in vaccines wanes in many communities.

More than 1,300 measles cases have been confirmed this year across 41 states, the latest being Wisconsin. That’s after the state Department of Health Services on Saturday announced it confirmed nine measles infections in Oconto County — the first in Wisconsin this year. 

Each Oconto County infection involved exposure to a “common source during out-of-state travel,” the state health department said in a statement. 

“DHS, in coordination with the Oconto County Public Health, is working to identify and notify people who may have been exposed to the measles virus,” the statement said. “At this time no public points of exposure have been identified and the risk to the community remains low.”  

What should Wisconsin families know about measles? 

Wisconsin Watch spoke with two University of Wisconsin-Madison experts: Dr. Jim Conway, a professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Global Pediatrics; and Malia Jones, an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Health.

We gathered additional information from officials at multiple rural public health departments across Wisconsin and reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Below are some takeaways. 

When and where am I most susceptible to measles?

That depends on individual health and vaccination status. Very young people (especially infants too young to be vaccinated), older adults and people with compromised immune systems face higher risks for contracting measles and developing severe complications.

Measles tends to spread more easily in crowded urban environments and during travel. However, it can spread anywhere, as evidenced by recent rural outbreaks, including those in Texas, where hundreds of infections have been confirmed and two school children have died. All it really takes is exposure to an infected person. Measles is one of the most highly contagious known diseases. It can remain infectious in the air or on surfaces even after an infected person leaves the area.

To put it in perspective, measles is often reported to have an R nought value — the number used to describe contagiousness — between 12 and 18. That means if one person with measles walked into a room of vulnerable people, odds are they would infect 12 to 18 others in the room. 

What should I do if I start having measles symptoms?

Measles often starts with general cold-like symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, making it hard to immediately recognize. The rash typically appears a few days after infection — and after a contagious person may have exposed others. 

If you think you might have measles or have been exposed to it, contact your local health department or healthcare provider immediately — especially if you’re unvaccinated or traveled to an area where cases were reported.  Suspected cases can be reported to local health departments even before confirmation, allowing officials to respond more quickly. Experts recommend staying home while waiting for test results to avoid spreading the virus.

What are the risks of measles?

While some think of measles as a mild childhood illness that everyone used to get, it can be dangerous. The disease can lead to a range of complications, from ear infections and diarrhea to more severe pneumonia or brain-swelling encephalitis. Such brain inflammation can affect multiple parts of the body and even cause permanent damage, especially to the brain and hearing. 

Meanwhile, a  rare but fatal long-term brain disease called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis can develop years after the initial infection. 

Some people infected by measles may experience neurological issues or nerve damage later in life.

One lesser-known risk factor: Measles can disrupt the part of the immune system that remembers previous infections, a phenomenon known as immunity amnesia. That leaves people more vulnerable to future viruses for two to three years after a measles infection.

In higher-income countries measles kills 1 to 3 of every 1,000 people infected, 10% to 20% of infections requiring hospitalization — often due to pneumonia, dehydration or severe diarrhea. Encephalitis occurs in about 1 in 1,000 cases, and pneumonia occurs in about 5% of infections. Children who are malnourished or have limited access to medical care face significantly greater risks. 

U.S. health officials have confirmed three measles-related deaths this year. 

What if I’m unsure whether I’ve had measles or the vaccine?

If you were born before 1957, you’re generally considered immune to measles because the virus was so widespread during the pre-vaccine era. Many adults born in the 1960s and 1970s may assume they’re protected when, in fact, they were never fully vaccinated, or even vaccinated at all. A second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine wasn’t added to routine childhood immunization schedules until 1989, so many adults missed one or both recommended doses. 

The bottom-line is if there’s any uncertainty around your vaccination status, it’s safe to get vaccinated again. There’s no harm in receiving an additional dose of the MMR vaccine. In fact, an extra dose is both safe and more practical — quicker and more cost-effective than getting a blood test to check your immunity.

“More is better,” Conway said. “This is not one of the vaccines that has particularly tough side effects.”

Staying up to date not only protects you from serious illness but also helps safeguard others in your community who may be more vulnerable to complications from measles.

What can I do to protect myself and others?

Vaccination is your best defense. The MMR vaccine is the most effective way to protect yourself and those around you from measles. Make sure you’ve received both recommended doses, and stay informed about outbreaks in your community, especially if you’re traveling or belong to a vulnerable group.

Visit these resources for more information

• About measles (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• How to protect your children during a measles outbreak (American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Measles cases are rising—here’s how to protect your family (Public Good News)
• How are routine vaccines tested for safety? (Public Good News)
• No, vitamin A does not prevent measles (Public Good News)

Measles has made it to Wisconsin. Here’s what to know about the virus. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

A health care provider bandages a child after giving a vaccination shot. (Photo by Scott Housely/CDC)

A pair of Wisconsin Republicans want to increase awareness of the state’s vaccine exemptions by requiring waiver forms be given to parents with the health forms they receive from schools and child care center providers. 

Coauthors of the bill Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) said in a cosponsorship memo that there is a “lack of transparency” around the exemptions that “can create confusion and unnecessary barriers for parents” and “increase administrative burden on schools when immunization documentation is incomplete or delayed.” 

Wisconsin law requires children in elementary, middle, junior or senior high school, a child care center, or a nursery school to get vaccinated for various diseases based on their grade or age. The vaccine and booster schedule covers mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, poliomyelitis and tetanus. 

Wisconsin allows parents to get the requirement waived if they submit a written statement objecting for reasons including health, religious or personal conviction. 

Lawmakers noted that the bill would not change current requirements for vaccines. The bill would require schools, child care centers and nursery schools to create a process to present a vaccine waiver form with each health-related form it requires before a student can be enrolled.

“Many parents are unaware of this right or are unclear about how to obtain that waiver and feel pressured to make medical decisions for their children that they otherwise would not have,” Brill said in a statement. “This bill ensures that schools make parents aware of the rights already afforded them by Wisconsin law and include information about the waiver from the vaccine requirement and a procedure for presenting it in any required pre-enrollment health-related forms.”

The proposal comes as Wisconsin’s vaccination rates have not caught up with pre-pandemic levels. According to a 2024 U.S. Centers for Disease Control report, Wisconsin is falling behind other states in childhood immunizations for illnesses including polio, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus, and measles, mumps and rubella. 

The decline in vaccine rates is partially to blame for diseases, including measles and pertussis, increasing across the country, according to health officials. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 86.4% of students met the minimum immunization requirements during the 2024-25 school year — a 2.8 percentage-point decrease from the prior year. The agency also reports that 6.7% of students had a waiver for one or more immunizations, representing a 0.6 percentage-point increase from last year, though the number of students waiving all vaccines fell to 1.3%. 

Amid falling rates, DHS officials have ramped up efforts to encourage vaccinations to help improve effectiveness. 

Wisconsin has one of the lowest measles vaccination rates in the country, with only Alaska falling below it. One dose of the MMR vaccine, which fights measles, provides approximately 93% protection, while two doses are about 97% effective.

As measles vaccine rates have fallen, cases of the highly contagious disease have hit the highest level in 33 years, according to the CDC with 1,288 cases this year. More than 150 people have been hospitalized from measles, and three people have died this year. No cases have been reported in Wisconsin so far, but its neighboring states, including Illinois and Minnesota, have had cases.

The lawmakers’ efforts to increase awareness of vaccine exceptions comes amid a national wave of skepticism to vaccination, including from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a leading and prominent vaccine skeptic and was appointed by President Donald Trump this year. 

Brill thanked Kennedy for his work on his “Make America Health Again” agenda in her statement about the bill.

Cabral-Guevara, a board certified family nurse practitioner, has supported legislation that would loosen vaccine requirements before including a 2024 bill that would have allowed immunization exemptions at higher education institutions without documentation. 

The bill passed the Senate and Assembly, but was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, who said in a veto message that he objected to “the Wisconsin State Legislature’s efforts to micromanage decisions to respond to public health incidents and restrict existing tools available to higher education institutions to keep students, faculty, staff safe and healthy on their campuses.”

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Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s candidate to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advanced out of a Senate committee Wednesday following a party-line vote, moving her one step closer to confirmation.

Susan Monarez’s nomination now goes to the floor, where she will likely secure the backing needed to officially take on the role of CDC director after garnering support from Republicans across the political spectrum during the committee’s 12-11 vote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., will be in charge of scheduling that vote, though if it isn’t held during the next few weeks, Monarez will have to wait until after the chamber’s August recess.

Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., said during the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s markup he believes Monarez is a strong candidate for CDC director and that he hopes she will help get the nation’s ongoing measles outbreak under control.

“The United States needs a CDC director who makes decisions rooted in science, a leader who will reform the agency and work to restore public trust in health institutions,” Cassidy said. “With decades of proven experience as a public health official, Dr. Monarez is ready to take on this challenge.”

Sanders criticizes Monarez on vaccine safety

Every Republican senator on the committee, including Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, voted to advance Monarez’s nomination.

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member on the panel, opposed Monarez’s advancement along with the Democrats on the committee.

Sanders argued that during Monarez’s time as acting director of the CDC, she didn’t do enough to counter Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., especially on the safety of vaccines. 

“Today, the United States is reporting the highest number of measles cases in 33 years,” Sanders said. “In my view, we need a CDC director who will defend science, protect public health and repudiate Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous conspiracy theories about safe and effective vaccines that have saved, over the years, millions of lives.”

Second CDC choice from Trump

Monarez testified before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in June, a standard part of the confirmation process.

Trump originally selected former Florida U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon to run the Atlanta-based CDC shortly after he secured election to the Oval Office in November. But the White House pulled Weldon’s nomination in March, after it appeared he couldn’t secure the votes needed for confirmation.

Later that month, Trump announced his plans to nominate Monarez in a social media post.

“Dr. Monarez brings decades of experience championing Innovation, Transparency, and strong Public Health Systems,” Trump wrote. “She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and PostDoctoral training in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

“As an incredible mother and dedicated public servant, Dr. Monarez understands the importance of protecting our children, our communities, and our future. Americans have lost confidence in the CDC due to political bias and disastrous mismanagement. Dr. Monarez will work closely with our GREAT Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr. Together, they will prioritize Accountability, High Standards, and Disease Prevention to finally address the Chronic Disease Epidemic and, MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!”

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As we continue to report on Wisconsin’s readiness for potential measles outbreaks, we have spoken to several people who have shared their memories of having measles before a vaccines were widely available. We’d love to hear from more of you. 

Before the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Americans faced measles infections each year. The advent of vaccination eliminated the disease in the United States by 2000. But outbreaks have returned to some U.S. communities as trust in vaccines wanes in many communities.

We’re following whether measles will return to Wisconsin, which has some of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates for children.

If you have a story to share, whether it’s your own experience with measles or your observations of what it was like at the time, please take a moment to fill out this short form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly. But we may follow up with those who indicate they are comfortable with us doing so. 

Thanks to those who have already shared their perspectives and questions. 

Here are the stories your feedback has inspired so far: 

• Wisconsin, once a leader in childhood vaccinations, now a leader in vaccine skepticism
• DataWatch: Measles will likely arrive in Wisconsin. Here’s where vaccination rates are trending

Did you witness measles outbreaks decades ago? Share your experience  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin’s rate for vaccinating 5- and 6-year-olds against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) has continued to slide since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with 74.1% of such children receiving two doses of the shot in 2024 — down from 79.3% in 2019. 

Nearly every Wisconsin county last year vaccinated a lower share of kindergarten-aged children for MMR than before the pandemic. Menominee County, home to the Menominee Indian tribe of Wisconsin, was the lone exception, according to Wisconsin Department of Health Services data. 

After dipping from nearly 80.7% in 2019 to as low as 74.7% during the height of the pandemic, Menominee County’s MMR vaccination rate for kindergartners grew to nearly 83.6% in 2024, the state’s highest rate. 

That success was due to local health officials “being proactive” and conducting outreach that included “looking up kids that were behind, reaching out to parents and encouraging them to bring them in,” said Faye Dodge, director of community health nursing services at the Menominee Tribal Clinic.

Vaccination rates matter because measles is highly contagious and potentially dangerous.

Before the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Americans faced measles infections each year. The advent of vaccination eliminated the disease in the United States by 2000. But outbreaks have returned to some U.S. communities as trust in vaccines wanes in many communities.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control though June 19 confirmed more than 1,200 measles cases this year in 36 states, including every state bordering Wisconsin. About 12% of cases sent patients to the hospital. Three people have died.  

Wisconsin, which has some of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates for children, has been lucky to have dodged cases so far, said Margaret Hennessy, a pediatrician and member of the Wisconsin Council on Immunization Practices.

Wisconsin’s risk of outbreaks will grow as families with children travel over the summer.

“They’re going to be traveling all over the country,” Hennessy said. “Realistically, it’s likely a matter of time for somebody who’s not vaccinated or doesn’t have immunity to get the disease.”

Wisconsin Watch analyzed statewide vaccination data for 5- and 6-year-olds in the state, conducted other research and spoke to public health officials.

Here are some takeaways:

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted local vaccination programs, leaving children behind in their vaccination schedules. Understaffed, under-resourced counties have struggled to catch up. 
• Creating relationships with trusted community members and reducing access barriers is the most effective way to inoculate more children against contagious diseases like measles, public health officials say. 
• No Wisconsin county comes close to reaching the vaccination rate of 95% that is considered the benchmark for herd immunity protection. That was true in 2024 and before the pandemic. 
• Just three counties — Manitowoc, Marathon and Kewaunee — fully vaccinated at least 80% of kindergarten-aged children in every year from 2019 to 2024. 
• While vaccination rates are lagging from pre-pandemic levels in most counties, 28 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties reported vaccination gains between 2023 and 2024 — four more than the previous year. Still, the majority of counties saw declines.

Vaccination rates are plunging in Clark County, which consistently ranks lowest statewide for vaccinating 5- and 6-year-olds against measles. Just 42.9% of those children received both MMR doses in 2024, down from 57.9% in 2019. 

Brittany Mews, Clark County’s health officer and director, cites a range of challenges in her sprawling county. Those include distances between few clinics in communities with no public transportation, low levels of health insurance access and diverse populations who face language barriers — and may adhere to cultural norms that prioritize traditional remedies over Western medicine.

But the county has found some success in partners ranging from school districts and child care centers to faith communities, Mews said. The health department has asked schools to notify parents when their children need vaccines, for instance, and positive feedback prompted the scheduling of multiple vaccine clinics at the schools and community churches.

Community partnerships in familiar places make people feel more comfortable — particularly in the county’s diverse communities, including those with language and cultural differences. 

Clark County is also working to increase vaccine access by partnering with neighboring health departments to offer vaccination clinics six times a year at a church food pantry, creating a “one-stop-shop” system, Mews said.   

Forging personal connections can grow trust and spread accurate information at a time when disinformation is running rampant online, Hennessy said. Hearing about positive vaccination experiences from a parent, neighbor or other trusted source can hold more weight than information a physician shares. 

“It’s unfortunate that we all can’t be everywhere all the time to fill that,” Hennessy said.

Heather Feest, a Manitowoc County public health nurse manager, said patience and understanding of concerns are also key to increased vaccinations.

“We’re not trying to persuade one way or another, it’s giving that information and answering questions — and allowing them to get factual information and have a conversation without judging,” Feest said. “It’s harder now than what it used to be.”

DataWatch: Measles will likely arrive in Wisconsin. Here’s where vaccination rates are trending is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The percentage of Wisconsin schoolchildren not receiving state-mandated vaccinations because of their parents’ personal beliefs is four times higher than it was a generation ago.

That rise in personal conviction waivers has driven a decrease in all immunizations among Wisconsin children ahead of new measles outbreaks hitting the U.S. that are linked to three deaths.

Wisconsin’s measles vaccination rate among kindergartners was the third-lowest in the nation in the 2023-24 school year, behind Idaho and Alaska. (Montana didn’t report data.)

Here’s a look at how we got here.

Vaccine laws in all 50 states

Immunizations are so common that all 50 states have laws requiring them for schoolchildren. Wisconsin was among the first, in 1882.

In the 1950s, the child mortality rate was 4.35%, largely due to childhood diseases. That rate dropped to 0.77% by 2022, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

“Vaccines have brought about one of the largest improvements in public health in human history, making diseases that once caused widespread illness and many deaths, such as measles, mumps, and rubella, rare in the United States,” the agency reported.

For the 2024-25 school year, Wisconsin required seven immunizations (18 doses) for children to enter school. That included shots for measles (MMR), polio and hepatitis B. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.

Overall, the vast majority of Wisconsin students, 89.2%, met the minimum immunization requirements in the 2023–24 school year, according to the state’s latest annual report. 

That’s essentially unchanged from the previous two school years. 

But it’s down more than three percentage points from 92.3% in 2017-18.

For highly communicable diseases such as measles, a threshold above 95% is needed to protect most people through “herd immunity.”

More parents refusing to get kids vaccinated

Wisconsin had been a national leader in childhood immunizations. 

But increasingly, Wisconsin parents are opting out:

• For all childhood immunizations, vaccination rates statewide were lower in almost every quarter from 2020 through 2024, in comparison with the average rate in the three years before COVID-19.

• Wisconsin was one of the states with the largest drops in the measles vaccination rate for kindergartners between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, and no county had an MMR vaccination rate above 85%, The Economist reported.

• By a different measure, the measles vaccination rate for 2-year-olds in 2024 was as low as 44% in Vernon County and under 70% in 14 other counties.

On exemptions, Wisconsin differs from most states

All states have exemptions that allow parents not to have their children vaccinated. Medical and religious reasons are the most common. 

In Wisconsin, there’s also a third waiver.

Wisconsin regulations say the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shall provide a waiver for health reasons if a physician certifies that an immunization “is or may be harmful to the health of a student”; or, if the parent of a minor student, or an adult student, submits a signed statement that “declares an objection to immunization on religious or personal conviction grounds.”

That philosophical exemption, based on personal beliefs, exists only in 15 states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.   

“The bottom line is: If you don’t want your child vaccinated, you don’t have to,” said Kia Kjensrud, interim director of Immunize Wisconsin, which supports vaccination organizations.

In 2023-24, 6.1% of Wisconsin students used a waiver. 

That includes 5.2% who had a personal conviction waiver — a rate more than four times higher than the 1.2% in 1997-98.

Waiver use has increased because the number of required vaccines and the legal protections given to vaccine manufacturers have “fueled skepticism about vaccine safety and testing rigor,” Wisconsin United for Freedom said in an email. The De Pere-based group works to protect “rights to medical freedom” and promotes vaccine skepticism. 

Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, one of the lawmakers who introduced legislation in 2023 to repeal the personal conviction waiver, said she believes some parents have genuine convictions against vaccinations. But “many of the folks who are choosing this exemption are doing it because of misinformation” claiming that vaccines are dangerous, she said.

Groups that registered to lobby in favor of Subeck’s bill included associations of physicians, nurses and local health departments. Wisconsin Family Action, which works to advance Judeo-Christian values, opposed it. The bill did not pass.

Kjensrud also blamed Wisconsin’s declining immunization rates on misinformation. But she said that rather than legislation, her group wants to improve “messaging the safety, efficacy and lifesaving importance of vaccines, and increasing vaccination rates however we can.” 

Bipartisan support for personal exemption

Wisconsin’s modern student immunization law was passed in 1975 with only the medical and religious waivers. In 1980, the Legislature added the personal conviction waiver. 

The waiver was included in a broader amendment proposed by 10 Democratic members and 11 Republican members of the Assembly.

The lead sponsor was the late Richard Flintrop, who represented Oshkosh and was known as a child welfare advocate. He also was a former staff member to maverick Democratic U.S. Sen. William Proxmire.

Wisconsin United For Freedom said the recent measles outbreaks “raise valid concerns,” but that “the focus should be on balanced public health strategies that prioritize sanitation, nutrition, and informed choice alongside vaccination, rather than relying solely on mandates.”

Wisconsin Watch wants to hear your perspective on vaccinations. Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community?

If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly.

Wisconsin, once a leader in childhood vaccinations, now a leader in vaccine skepticism is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Last week, our newsroom was intrigued by data in this Economist article showing that Wisconsin stands out nationally when it comes to its low vaccination rates for measles. It prompted a discussion about the many reasons for vaccine hesitancy and the complex challenges of maintaining trust in public health. 

One thing is clear: Measles is a very infectious disease, and it’s spreading nationwide. 

As of May 15 officials had confirmed 1,024 measles cases — including more than 100 hospitalizations — across 31 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. 

Officials in 2025 have tracked almost as many measles outbreaks (defined as three or more related cases) as they did in all of 2024. Three deaths this year have been linked to measles. They included two unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. 

The outbreaks come as vaccination rates decline nationwide, particularly in Wisconsin. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine rate for Wisconsin kindergartners has plunged since 2019. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, no county in Wisconsin had more than a 90% vaccination rate, which is traditionally associated with “herd immunity.” 

Wisconsin, The Economist article noted, “is among the most permissive states for vaccine exceptions in schools, allowing opt-out for personal-conviction reasons (along with medical and religious exemptions, which most states have); parents only have to submit a written note.”

Still, Wisconsin has yet to see a measles outbreak this year. As we consider how to report on this issue, let us know what you think. 

Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community? 

If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly. 

Help Wisconsin Watch report on measles prevention is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2025 general recommendations are that children receive about 19 vaccinations and other immunizations.

Those include vaccines against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, tetanus and diphtheria. The range is from one to five doses from birth through age 18.

Total doses could exceed 70. That’s mainly from annual recommended doses of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

Wisconsin requires seven immunizations (19 doses) for schoolchildren. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.

Before vaccines, many children died from diseases such as measles and pertussis (whooping cough), according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. 

The viruses and bacteria that cause these diseases still exist, and some are deadly, the department says.

Attorney Mary Holland, head of Children’s Health Defense, an organization founded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. that questions vaccines, said May 1 on Wisconsin radio the federal recommendation is for “at least 77 vaccines.”

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventiuon: Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for ages 18 years or younger
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Summary of Changes to Wisconsin 2024-2025 School Immunization Requirements for Local Health Departments, Schools, and Health Care Providers
• Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Immunizations: Childhood and Adolescent Vaccine Information
• Children's Health Defense: Leadership Team
• Children's Health Defense: Why Are So Many Questioning Vaccines?
• Children's Health Defense: The Exploding Vaccine Schedule

Does the federal government recommend more than 70 vaccines for children? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.