When “Medical Freedom” Meets Measles: A Dermatologic Surgeon’s Perspective on Protecting Our Children

As a physician and a mother, I have dedicated my career to prevention. In dermatology and Mohs surgery, prevention means early detection, sun protection, and evidence-based treatment before disease causes permanent harm.

Vaccination is prevention at its most powerful.

The current measles outbreak in the United States — the worst in decades — is a sobering reminder that diseases we once considered controlled can return quickly when immunization rates fall below community-protective thresholds. In some communities, vaccination rates have dropped far below the 95% level needed to prevent sustained measles transmission. The result is entirely predictable: outbreaks, hospitalizations, and preventable risk.

Measles Is Not a Harmless Childhood Illness

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known. It spreads through respiratory droplets and can remain airborne for up to two hours after an infected person leaves the room.

Complications are not rare. They include:

• Pneumonia (a leading cause of measles-related death in children)
• Encephalitis (brain inflammation that can cause permanent neurologic damage)
• Permanent hearing loss
• Developmental regression
• Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a fatal degenerative brain disorder that can develop years after infection
• Permanent scarring from severe rash and secondary infections

Before widespread vaccination, measles caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of hospitalizations annually in the United States. Globally, it still does.

As physicians, we are trained to respect disease — not romanticize it.

The Reality of Vaccine Side Effects

No medical intervention is without risk. That includes vaccines. Transparency builds trust, so let’s discuss what is actually documented.

The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine can cause:

• Mild fever
• Transient rash
• Temporary joint discomfort
• Febrile seizures (rare; generally without long-term consequences)
• Severe allergic reaction (extremely rare, estimated at approximately 1 per million doses)

The claim that MMR causes autism has been thoroughly studied and repeatedly disproven in large, well-designed epidemiologic studies. That theory originated from a fraudulent, retracted paper.

In medicine, we compare risk to risk. The risk of a transient fever after vaccination is not medically equivalent to the risk of encephalitis or lifelong neurologic impairment from measles infection.

The Ripple Effect: It’s Not Just Your Child

When vaccination rates decline, the consequences extend beyond individual families.

Unvaccinated children:

• Expose infants who are too young to receive the vaccine
• Endanger immunocompromised children and adults
• Increase exposure risk for pregnant women
• Force healthcare facilities into infection-control triage protocols
• Place nurses, medical assistants, physicians, and staff at repeated occupational risk

During outbreaks, clinics are forced to evaluate febrile children outdoors or in isolation. Entire waiting rooms become high-risk environments. Healthcare teams must quarantine after exposure. Staffing becomes strained. Routine care is disrupted.

Every preventable case creates system-wide vulnerability.

The Ethical Responsibility We Share

“Medical freedom” is a phrase that resonates with many people. But medicine does not exist in isolation. Public health is, by definition, communal.

Choosing not to vaccinate is not a neutral act during an outbreak. It increases the probability of disease transmission. It places others at risk — particularly those who cannot choose for themselves.

As a surgeon, I often reconstruct faces after skin cancer. I restore function and confidence. But there are complications I cannot reverse: neurologic damage, profound hearing loss, severe cognitive impairment.

Those are the kinds of outcomes measles can cause.

Trust and Partnership

I understand that parents want to make the safest choices for their children. I also understand how overwhelming the volume of online information can be.

The most important conversations I have with patients — whether about skin cancer surgery or vaccine decisions — are grounded in transparency, data, and personal accountability.

If asked, “Would you do it for your child?” my answer is unequivocal.

Yes.

Because prevention is always kinder than regret.

Final Thoughts

We are witnessing what happens when vaccination rates fall. Outbreaks return. Fear returns. Preventable disease returns.

As physicians, we carry the burden of managing these consequences. As parents and community members, we share the responsibility to prevent them.

Vaccination is not about politics.
It is about protection.
It is about stewardship.
It is about safeguarding the most vulnerable among us.

And it works.