Bangkok: While the United States is grappling with a severe measles outbreak, the confusion surrounding measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination policies, which conflict with scientific evidence, has led to the most severe measles pandemic in the US in three decades. According to Thai News Agency, a May 2026 survey by KFF, a public health policy research agency, found that 36% of American parents mistakenly believed that the MMR vaccine causes autism in children, and 23% still mistakenly believed that the measles vaccine was more dangerous than contracting the measles virus itself. The survey also found that among those who believed the MMR vaccine was the cause of autism in children, 6 out of 10 (57%) avoided or postponed their children's scheduled vaccinations. Similarly, among those who believed the measles vaccine was more dangerous than the measles virus, approximately 4 out of 10 (43%) avoided or postponed their children's scheduled vaccinations. This is an example that shows how a lack of confide nce in vaccines clearly leads to a decrease in vaccination rates. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that in the 2025-26 school year, the vaccination rate for children entering preschool is expected to decrease by approximately 0.1%. This is a declining trend every year since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This means that in the 2025-26 academic year, there will be 280,000 kindergarten children enrolled without documentation proving they have received a full dose of the MMR vaccine. Contrary to the declining vaccination rate, the number of parents requesting exemptions for their children is increasing every year. While requests for vaccination exemptions for medical reasons remain consistent each year, it was found that requests for exemption from vaccinations for reasons other than medical ones have been increasing steadily every year since the 2020-21 academic year. This coincided with a period when the MMR vaccination rate among children was also steadily declining. According to epidemiological principles, achieving herd immunity requires a vaccination rate in the community of over 95%. However, in the 2025-26 academic year, only 10 states in the U.S. had an MMR vaccination rate of over 95%. These factors are the reason why measles, which had been eradicated from the United States in the 2000s, is now experiencing a severe resurgence. In the first eight months of 2026, 2,700 Americans were reported to be infected with the measles virus, which is 500 more than the total number of infections expected in all of 2025. It was found that 94% of those infected were unvaccinated or unaware of their vaccination status.