Vaccine misinformation on the rise
May 6, 2025
Summary: Some vaccine misinformation has increased, although overall confidence in vaccination remains high.
Source: Montero, et al KFF April 23, 2025
KFF reported late last month that the portion of the population that had heard false claims about measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine continues to be high. About six in ten adults (63%) and a similar percentage of parents (61%) report they have heard false claims that MMR causes autism; this has not changed much since 2023. However, about a third of adults (33%) have heard the false claim that the MMR vaccine is more dangerous than a measles infection. This has increased by 15% since 2023. About one in five (20%) have heard the false claim that vitamin A can prevent measles.
Less than 5% of adults think that all of the false claims about measles are definitely true, but many are in what the researchers call the “malleable middle” where they express uncertainty about the truthfulness of these false claims. The researchers report that “large majorities” of the public (83%) and parents (78%) are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” that the MMR vaccine is safe.
Meanwhile, reported measles cases in the current epidemic have topped 900, and there are reported cases in 30 jurisdictions. Almost all of the cases are in those who were not immunized or whose immunization status was unavailable.
Implications for employers:
Employers can continue to communicate to their employees that childhood vaccinations are safe and available with no cost sharing.
Vaccinations are not merely cost-effective, they are one of the few medical services that are cost-saving -- meaning that they lower medical claims costs.
The cost to employers of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable respiratory disease will include illness, medical care, and time that parents must miss work to care for their sick children.
Employers should have plans to address exposures to respiratory diseases, such as measles in the workplace. While most adults are immune to pediatric respiratory diseases, about one in fifteen adults (6.6%) are immunocompromised and at higher risk of infection.
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