A monthslong NBC News data investigation finds that much of the U.S. doesn’t have the protection needed to stop the spread of deadly diseases. For more than a half-century, vaccines have had remarkable success eradicating the most lethal and devastating childhood infectious diseases, saving millions of lives and ushering in a relative golden era of global public health. Now, among the states collecting data for the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, 67% of counties and jurisdictions now have immunization rates below 95% — the level of herd immunity doctors say is needed to protect against an outbreak and the number of families seeking an exemption for their children rose from 0.3% in 2010 to 3.4%last school year.
For more from K-12 Dive, click here.