The Korea Times
Measles is back in the United States. More than 1,500 cases have already been reported in the first months of 2026, putting the country on pace to surpass last year’s total of more than 2,200, the highest number in decades. Public health officials warn that the nation’s status as “measles free” is now at risk as childhood vaccination rates decline. Measles may not be the only disease poised for a comeback. Another virus that once infected thousands of American children each year could be heading in the same direction. A recent study my colleagues and I conducted using national electronic health record data found that hepatitis B vaccination rates among newborns declined by more than 10% between 2023 and August 2025. At first glance, hepatitis B may seem like an unlikely threat to infants. The virus spreads through infected blood or bodily fluids, exposures many parents assume newborns would rarely encounter. But before routine vaccination began, hepatitis B infected roughly 18,000 children under the age of 10 in the United States every year. About half of those infections were pa
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