Lingering anti-vaccination beliefs put their children at risk. A National Consumers League survey in 2010 found that approximately one-third of parents with children younger than age 18 believed that vaccinations for a variety of illnesses could cause autism. Of all adults surveyed, 29 percent of them believed that to be true.

Let’s repeat this clearly: There is no widely accepted scientific evidence that links vaccinations to autism or any other condition.

The CDC largely took control of the measles in the 1980s when they began a major education push to get more children immunized. Before that effort, it was estimated that measles caused more than 2.5 million deaths each year worldwide.

Working closely with lawmakers across the country, they managed to institute laws that required immunization proof for public school enrollment, with many private schools also adopting the measures. The impact was immediate, and measles cases slowly dropped to the point where it was believed to be largely eradicated among native-born Americans by 2000.

That’s gradually changing. In 2014, the CDC reported more than 600 cases of measles in the United States, its highest count since the disease was eradicated. The trend is growing year by year -- there were more cases discovered in January 2015 than in all of 2012.

Symptoms of Measles

Measles has one major tell-tale sign – red, freckled rashes all over the body, usually accompanied by classic cold symptoms – runny nose, cough, sore throat, fever and eye irritation.