What Measles Outbreaks Tell Us About Public Health In America

Fresh Air

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🗓️ 18 February 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

"Measles thrives on being underestimated," Dr. Adam Ratner says. The highly infectious disease was thought to be a "solved problem," until a 2018 outbreak in New York City. "When we start to see measles, it's evidence of the faltering of our public health systems and of fomenting of distrust of vaccines." Ratner talks about the implications of RFK's Health and Human Services Dept. appointment, National Institute of Health budget cuts, and spreading distrust and skepticism in science. His new book is called Booster Shots.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Geraldine Brooks' memoir Memorial Days, about grieving her husband, Tony Horwitz.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. Last week, the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has historically been a vaccine skeptic, as President Trump's head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Today, we're going to be talking about the importance of vaccines amid the growing avian bird flu and measles spread, with pediatrician and infectious disease expert,
0:22.6	Dr. Adam Ratner. 25 years ago, measles was declared eliminated in the United States.
0:28.8	It was a long-fought win for pediatricians and researchers and those who work in infectious diseases.
0:35.2	Today, however, measles is back, and Dr. Ratner says the resurgence points
0:39.5	to a larger, more significant problem for public health. Measles isn't just inconvenient.
0:45.3	It is highly contagious and can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation,
0:51.3	blindness, and even death. Dr. Ratner's new book, Booster Shots,
0:56.3	the urgent lessons of measles and the uncertain future of children's health,
1:00.6	warns that as the number of vaccinations in children decreases
1:03.7	and the lack of public trust in science increases,
1:07.6	the resurgence of illnesses like measles is a foregone conclusion. Measles, like many
1:13.4	communicable diseases, Ratner says, is a biological agent that preys on human inequity,
1:19.2	thriving on conditions of chaos, colonialism, and war. Dr. Adam Ratner is a professor of pediatrics
1:25.9	and microbiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine
1:29.8	and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hassanfield Children's Hospital and Bellevue Hospital Center.
1:38.1	We recorded this conversation last week.
1:41.1	Dr. Ratner, welcome to Fresh Air.
1:43.3	Thanks so much. Delighted to be here. Well, your book is very
1:47.4	relevant. President Trump has announced significant funding cuts for the NIH, the National
1:53.3	Institutes of Health, which will have a direct impact on medical research. The anti-vax movement
1:58.8	continues to grow. There is still this disbelief in science and
2:02.6	research that we are seeing. And you have made it your life's work to study and treat infectious
	...

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