Vaccination rates among US kindergartners have slipped again, and health experts are worried.
Only 92.4% of children got the MMR and polio shots and 92% got the DTaP shot for the 2025-26 school year, while exemptions rose to 4.2%.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, warns that these gaps could open the door for preventable diseases like measles, polio, and whooping cough to spread again.
Measles cases exceed 5,000
Already this year, there have been more than 5,000 measles cases, mostly among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
Whooping cough is putting infants at risk too, and even polio could return if vaccination rates stay low.
The decline in vaccination rates is a serious concern that could lead to outbreaks of diseases we thought were under control.
Health officials say getting vaccinated protects not just you but your whole community.