Measles Outbreak Should Be a Vaccine Wake-Up Call: Lisa Jarvis

A cluster of measles cases in the Northeast is putting a spotlight on how easily the highly contagious disease can spread — and how dangerous any further slip in childhood vaccination rates could be.

It takes only a handful of measles cases to make headlines. That’s because infants and toddlers not old enough to have been fully protected through vaccination are vulnerable to the virus. Kids don’t get their first shot until they are at least 12 months old and aren’t fully vaccinated until their second dose, given somewhere between ages 4 and 6.

But these days, clusters of cases like ...