Recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States have prompted clinicians, public health officials, and the public to pay closer attention to the growing phenomenon of vaccine refusal. A new study looks at the role of vaccine refusal and the risk of measles and pertussis. In recent years, a substantial proportion of US measles cases occurred in people who were intentionally unvaccinated. Vaccine refusal was also found to be associated with an increased risk of pertussis in some populations.

Click here to review the publication in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association.