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 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) this weekend wrote a piece for CNN Opinion on the importance of vaccinations to stop the ongoing measles outbreak in the United States.

“Right now, our country is facing two viral outbreaks. Both are incredibly dangerous and one fuels the spread of the other. The first: More than 800 cases of measles have been confirmed in the United States this year. The second? A plague of misinformation,” wrote Guthrie. “While measles was once common, the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 thanks to the widespread use of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Today, our country is seeing a resurgence more than 55 years after the measles vaccine was first developed in 1963. Most people no longer remember the dangers of this infectious disease, which can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, and death. Sadly, we’re now being reminded of the true toll that measles can take.”

As the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Guthrie recently helped lead a hearing on the safety of the MMR vaccine, which he discusses in the piece. He also recently introduced the bipartisan VACCINES Act to help increase immunization rates across the country.

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