More Americans Exposed to False Claims About Measles and Its Vaccines, KFF Poll Shows

Most adults and parents have read or heard false claims about measles and the measles vaccine, leaving many unsure of what to believe, a poll by the nonprofit organization KFF showed on Wednesday.

The health policy nonprofit polled Americans on whether they had been exposed to three circulating false or misleading statements about measles.

Experts have said that the fight against rising measles cases is being hampered by a lack of forceful advocacy for vaccination by government health officials and by statements on unproven treatments that confuse parents.

A third of the 1,380 U.S. adults and parents polled by KFF have been exposed to the claim that receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is more dangerous than becoming infected with disease, marking an increase of about 15 percentage points since a poll conducted in March 2024.

This followed a March 11 interview on Fox News in which U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. amplified a false narrative about MMR vaccine risks by claiming without evidence that the vaccine results in "deaths every year" and causes "all the illnesses" associated with disease.

Since taking the top job, Kennedy, who has a long history of advocating against vaccines, has backed the use of shots as the best way to prevent measles.