The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Doctor Sandra Fryhofer, President-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA), issued a plea to end the burgeoning increase of measles in the nation, including Wisconsin: “One case of measles is concerning. Thousands are a warning. … This year’s case count (over 4,000 nationally, including nearly 300 in Wisconsin) has already surpassed the total reported in all of 2025, making 2026 the worst year for measles our country has experienced in decades.”
The consequences can be grave: “One out of every four people who get measles in the United States will be hospitalized. One or two out of every 1,000 children in the United States who get measles will die from the disease, even with the best care. Measles can cause serious health problems such as: pneumonia, an infection of the lungs, brain damage caused by swelling and deafness” (Wisconsin Department of Health Services).
All of the above is avoidable. Americans died by the thousands before the first measles vaccine (1963). By 2000 measles was considered eliminated. Why the current surge? Vaccination rates have declined. Even a small decline is dangerous, as measles is extraordinarily contagious. Complacency, disinformation and partisan politics have all played a role in lower vaccination rates.
Moreover, the Trump administration has committed to unilateral prevention and vaccination disarmament. It has hollowed out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with 30 percent fewer employees through firings, layoffs and forced retirements. “The changes have hindered the CDC’s ability to respond to outbreaks as measles spreads at home and Ebola abroad, and to issue timely guidance on vaccinations as cooling temperatures kick off the respiratory season (COVID and flu) … . State and local health departments which rely on the CDC for resources and technical advice, have been stymied by delays” (NYT).
Trump is also trying to limit vaccinations, discarding medical and scientific guidance, issuing an executive order reducing childhood vaccinations and requiring the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) be broken up into 3 shots. Louisiana GOP Senator Bill Cassidy said: “I am a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines Do Not cause autism.”
The same with flu. Defense Secretary Hegseth declared that flu vaccination will no longer be required for our military. Remember the 1918 Great Influenza before there was a flu vaccine: 675,000 Americans died, including more than 20,000 U.S. troops and 8,459 Wisconsinites. Major General (ret.) Paul Friedrichs, MD, has reminded us how George Washington directed that the Continental Army be inoculated against smallpox.
Listen to AMA President-elect Doctor Sandra Fryhofer – get vaccinated. Moreover, I urge Democratic Governor Tony Evers and former GOP Governor Tommy Thompson to issue a joint statement endorsing MMR, flu and COVID vaccinations. Thompson once said: “We’re Badgers and we’re going to beat this enemy (viruses), but let’s do it together. It’s not a Democrat. It’s not a Republican. It’s not a commie. … It’s a common enemy … .” On Wisconsin.
Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
