Beau of The Fifth Column
Let's talk about Trump’s CDC, Measles, and the ‘cost of doing business’....
23 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, howdy there, Internet people. It's Belle again. So today, we're going to talk about Trump's CDC, measles, and the cost of doing business.
With so much international news this week, it would have been easy to overlook some statements that are definitely ringing alarm bells in the medical community. First, a little bit of background information.
Chapter 2: What alarming statements were made regarding measles and the CDC?
The United States is almost certain to lose its measles elimination status because last year we saw thousands of cases and hundreds of hospitalizations. So many that you have to go back to 1991 to find a year with more. Principal Deputy Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ralph Abraham, was asked if he would see the loss of measles elimination status as a major event.
He said, quote, First, that's not how this works. Cases from international travel do not count as far as measles elimination status. Measles elimination in a country or region means that there are no locally transmitted measles infections or outbreaks lasting 12 months or longer. That's from the CDC website.
While an international traveler may bring a case of measles in, that doesn't cause the loss of measles elimination. The uncontrolled spread for a year does. I feel like the Centers for Disease Control should view the uncontrolled spread of a disease as an issue and not just try to blame it on the border. Again, we haven't seen this many cases since 1991.
I feel like I remember our border becoming more and more tightly controlled between then and now. A pediatrician and vaccine specialist, Paul Offit, said, quote, When you hear somebody like Abraham say the cost of doing business, how can you be more callous? Three people died of measles last year in this country. We eliminated this virus in the year 2000. Eliminated it.
Eliminated circulation of the most contagious human infection. That was something to be proud of. When you actually think about how easily measles spreads, it's a modern wonder of the world that we could stop it.
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Chapter 3: How has the United States' measles elimination status changed?
It is worth noting that Abraham did say, quote, we have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated. That's their personal freedom. So he did at least tie it to vaccination. Okay, it's their personal freedom. But I feel like maybe we shouldn't just shrug at that. Maybe this is the moment for patient education.
If only we had some entity that was tasked with trying to prevent and control diseases that could provide them with information. Look, according to the CDC, about one out of five of kids under five who contracted it were hospitalized. This isn't a joke. How effective is the vaccine? Out of those who contracted it, 93% were totally unvaccinated and another 3% only got one of the two shots.
A measles infection can cause devastating lifelong complications. Talk to your provider, ask questions, get the best information you can. Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.