On the grim hype around measles

The media is addicted to fear porn in all its forms. We have to say no.

As I may have mentioned once or twice, The Fatherhood Manifesto has 50 tips.

Tip #17 reads as follows:

Don’t scare your kids about existential, future of humanity issues. And don’t let the media scare your kids about them either. Not about Covid or whatever the pandemic du jour is. Not about climate change. And ideally not about school shootings, though those unfortunately are hard to avoid talking about, especially with schools regularly running shelter-in-place drills.

The correct response if your children ask about any existential threat is: sure, X might be a problem, but human beings are imaginative and inventive. We have figured out ways to solve serious crises in the past, and we will again.

I can’t emphasize enough: Whatever your private feelings might be about any particular problem, this attitude is the only proper response for any preteen child. Your kids will have plenty of time to worry about the future. Your job is to keep those fears from them for as long as possible. If you are openly anxious, you are sentencing them to a lifetime of anxiety.

—

Tip #17 is a good example of the tone and advice of The Fatherhood Manifesto. And obviously, if you like it, I hope you’ll buy the whole thing - for yourself, or a dad you know.

But that is not why I raise Tip #17.

Today, The New York Times ran what is at least its 20th article this year on measles. This one was headlined With Measles Roaring Back, the Search for a Treatment is On.

The piece marks the second time in three months the Times has referred to “measles” as “roaring back” in a headline.

So: how many Americans have died of measles in 2026, as this highly infectious scourge cuts its lethal swath through our cities and towns?

The answer is… none.

As in not one.

As in zero.

That number comes from the anti-vaccine fanatics at (checks notes) the Centers for Disease Control.

—

(See for yourself)

SOURCE

—

By way of comparison, about 100 Americans a year now die from dog attacks, including 127 in 2024, the most ever recorded.

The New York Times has not run 20 articles this year about dog attacks.

Okay, no one died. But what about hospitalizations? Measles is putting tons of unlucky kids and adults in the hospital, right?

Well. The CDC reports 127 hospitalizations in American hospitals for measles through June 4 — out of about 15 million hospitalizations overall. In other words, more than 99.999 percent of American hospitalizations this year have not been for measles.

But the epidemic must be taking off, right? Roaring?

About that:

—

The outbreaks peaked in January — five months ago.

As Unreported Truths readers know, I believe the benefits of measles vaccination outweigh the risks. Measles is highly contagious, and the vaccine is long-lasting and effective. And though it is not risk-free, its risks are much better understood than those of mRNA shots.

I know not all of you agree. But that’s not the point.

The point is the media is once again doing everything it can to hype a nearly non-existent “crisis” for its own political gain. The New York Times hates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (hates is not too strong a word). It views measles as a useful cudgel against him.

In reality, there is no evidence measles will ever again be more than a tiny risk in the United States (and that risk will be concentrated among unvaccinated immigrants).

Most parents will keep following the advice of their pediatricians and vaccinate their kids against measles. How do I know? Because even after the disastrous failure of the Covid mRNA jabs for children, over 90 percent of American kids still get measles shots. And because the measles vaccine (unlike the Covid shots) actually works against infection, those kids are very unlikely to get measles.

—

(The truth, without fear or favor. And with your help.)

—

So, yes, the measles scare stories are a grim sideshow, a distraction from the real threats children face. Far more American kids will die from car accidents, or drowning, or parental abuse between now and the end of June than are likely to die from measles in the next 50 years.

Yes, the media is frightening parents over a tiny infectious disease threat to kids to score political points. Where have we seen that before?

The fear-mongering isn’t just counterproductive and wrong. Ultimately — coming back to The Fatherhood Manifesto and Tip #17 — it breeds anxiety that hurts children.

I can’t make the Times decide telling the truth is more important than banging on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

I sure wish it would, though.

—

Stand against politically motivated fear. Stand for fatherhood!