3 Tricks the CDC and 'Trusted' Media Use to Create Measles Panic

Spot the Trick Part 1. Anyone can see through fraud when you know what to look for.

(This article assisted by Alter Ai.)

Medical spin in America is everywhere. From left and right media, to medical associations, and ‘trusted’ experts, frustrated families must tackle swamps of conflicting information.

Where pandemics once occurred every 50 years or so, we are now warned yearly of outbreaks. The solution is always the same, whispered medical mandates wed to mass promotion of often ineffective pharmaceuticals.

Yet, some outbreaks are real and many pharmaceuticals do save lives. How are we to know the difference?

In desperation we easily succumb to the loudest or most authoritative voices.

The positive news is anyone can discover the truth and you don’t need a research degree to identify medical disinformation. Most deceit follows the same patterns.

Armed with 3 simple rules of observation, you will be able to detect most distorted medical claims whether on a TV ad, research study, or official government announcement.

In Spot the Trick Part 1 we’ll look at the claims of vaccines and the ‘deadly’ measles outbreaks.

A closer look at the dangerous measles resurgence.

You’ve probably seen the headlines:

• The Deaths Doctors Never Thought They’d See in the U.S. write Reuters.

• Measles is Making a Comeback: Can We Stop It? puzzles Harvard Health.

• MSN writes: Here’s Why the Measles Outbreak Just Took a Dangerous New Turn.

• The University of Chicago Medicine warns measles can cause inflammation of the brain, resulting in brain damage and “death from neurologic or respiratory complications of measles occurs in one to three of every 1,000 cases.”

One author concedes the days when measles were a rite of passage. But then warns it can be deadly: (*Note how everything changes after 1963.)

“Before a vaccine became available in 1963, measles was a rite of passage among American children. A red rash would spread over their bodies. They would develop a high fever. Severe cases could cause blindness or brain damage, or even death.”

CDC says measles almost eliminated in U.S.

Blaming Kennedy

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is often blamed for the sudden measles recurrence by de-emphasizing the disease’s danger when advising that parents and doctors should decide if a child receives the MMR vaccine.

Here’s his actual statement that doesn’t de-emphasize anything.

“Parents play a pivotal role in safeguarding their children’s health. All parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine. The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”

Nowhere does Sec. Kennedy suggest people should not get vaccinated, merely that this decision should be made on an individual basis between a parent and doctor.

In other words, the sentiment is that each individual child’s health is too important to be entrusted to the blanket recommendations of any government agency.

What the expert's really want is for Sec. Kennedy to use his agency to assist in spreading greater fear so every child will get vaccinated.

The measles vaccine

It’s true, measles effected most children in the 50’s, but did the vaccine “almost eliminate” them and are they as deadly as the ‘experts’ say? Not exactly.

Most experts agree the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 led to the virtual eradication of the disease in the United States. In this graph you can see the steep decline in measles cases after its introduction.

https://digitalmedic.stanford.edu/news/understanding-measles-highly-infectious-preventable-disease

Trick #1 Selective timelines

Now let’s look at two identical graphs with different timelines.

Like the graph above, this next image repeats the sharp decline in cases and deaths after 1963 and appears to validate the impressive testament to their success. (The top line indicates the rate of measles cases and the bottom the rate of deaths.)

Data source: US Census Bureau (1944); Public Health Reports (1993); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1994; 2025)

But the commentary changes when we back the timeline to 1919.

In the same graph, by extending the timeline, we see it’s true the number of cases decreased post vaccine; but measles deaths had already plummeted from a high of 12 per 100,000 in 1919 to less that .21 per 100,000 in 1960, 3 years before introduction of the measles vaccine.

Data source: US Census Bureau (1944); Public Health Reports (1993); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1994; 2025)

The following graph traces the deaths per 100,000 of 5 diseases and notes when the vaccines were introduced. Measles is represented by the green line with points.

(Vital Statistics of the United States 1937, 1938, 1943, 1944, 1949, 1960, 1967, 1976, 1987, 1992; Historical Statistics of the United States—Colonial Times to 1970 Part 1; Health, United States, 2004, US Department of Health and Human Services; Vital Records & Health Data Development Section, Michigan Department of Community Health; US Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003; Reported Cases and Deaths from Vaccine Preventable Diseases, United States, 1950–2008)

Official data clearly shows that measles deaths were dramatically decreasing long before the vaccine was introduced. The years following introduction merely extended the same mortality reduction pattern with no change.

2. Conflating cases versus infections

You’ve heard it many times, “Three in 1,000 people who contract measles will die.”

Here’s an example from the Infectious Disease Society of America referring to measles outcomes:

“…as many as 1 in 20 will get pneumonia; about 1 in 1,000 will have brain swelling that can cause deafness and intellectual disability; and nearly 3 in 1,000 will die. Before the vaccine was available in 1963, nearly every child got measles by age 15. The disease sickened 3 million to 4 million people and led to about 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations every year in the U.S.”

Notice in the statement above, the “3 deaths in 1000” is today, versus the 500 out of 4 million before 1963. But 500 out of 4 million is far less than 1 death per thousand. Does this mean people were safer before the vaccine. Well, no.

These are fear tactics, (deafness, disability, death) wrapped in comingled statistics (3 out 1,000, 500 out of 4 million.)

The 1,000 refers only to reported cases or case fatality rate (CFR) , the 4 million is the estimated total infections or infection fatality rate (IFR) based on population and immunity rates.

Pre-1963, the U.S. reported only about 400,000 measles cases annually, even though 3–4 million infections were occurring. That’s a 10-fold underreporting ratio.

So when you hear “measles kills 1 in 1,000,” that’s really 1 in 1,000 reported cases. The IFR, which accounts for unreported infections and subclinical cases, and the number concerning most Americans, is ~1 in 10,000 to 1 in 5,000, or 0.01–0.02%.

3. Conflating terms ‘from’ and ‘with’

Dying with a disease is not the same as dying from that disease.

This conflation of terms, a deceit similar to the cases-versus-infections ruse above, was popular among the media during COVID as a way to increase panic and thereby mRNA uptake. Anyone admitted to the hospital with COVID, who later died was confirmed as a COVID death regardless of the actual cause.

Eventually, this deception became so confusing that Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Health issued this statement:

“Everyone listed as a COVID death doesn’t mean that was the cause of the death, but that they had COVID at the time of death.”

Similarly, by April of 2025, papers began headlining a ‘shocking’ 3 measles deaths in the United States for the first time in decades. Gradually, that news morphed into “3 confirmed deaths representing the first measles-related fatalities in the United States in over a decade.”

Why the subtle alteration? Because there were never any confirmed measles deaths in the US. in 2025.

Here’s what did happen:

Two unvaccinated children in Texas were admitted to the hospital with the measles which are often followed by a commonly treated infection. In each case, according to the physician’s notes, it was clear the children were recovering from their measles, but were administered the incorrect antibiotic for the pursuant infection. One of the children died from E.coli bacteria she contracted while in the hospital. By the time doctors received the culture results it was too late to administer the correct antibiotic. The child had already died. You can read more about the two cases here.

The New Mexico case involved an adult admitted to the hospital who tested positive for the measles. We do not know why the patient was admitted nor did the coroner ever confirm the cause of death which remains under investigation.

It’s interesting to note, that even though no one has declared that measles had anything to do with the New Mexico patient’s death, the coroner’s report continued the gratuitous panic propaganda…

“Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can cause severe complications. One in five cases requires hospitalization, and approximately three in every 1,000 cases result in death.”

3 Tricks to Watch For

1. Timelines selected to boost an argument.

2. Confusing Cases with Infections.

3. Confusing death ‘from’ a disease as opposed to death ‘with’ a disease.

Summary

• Between 1900 and 1950 the United States measles mortality rate had already declined by 97% in response to improved sanitation, (particularly in crowded urban areas), increased focus on childhood nutrition, introduction of antibiotics, and greater awareness of the role of vitamin A.

• The death rate from measles had dropped by more than 98% prior to the 1963 introduction of the measles vaccine.

• While the vaccine dramatically reduced the number of measles cases, it only continued the already established flow in the reduction of deaths.

• That “1- 3 in 1,000 deaths” figure that agencies like the CDC still cite reflects the case fatality rate (CFR) — that is, deaths among reported clinical cases only. It does not consider the total number of infections and therefore grossly inflates the likelihood of anyone dying from the measles.

• Pre-1963, the U.S. reported only about 400,000 measles cases annually, even though 3–4 million infections were occurring. That’s a 10-fold underreporting ratio.

• As mentioned, “measles kills 1 in 1,000,” means 1 in 1,000 reported cases. The IFR, which accounts for unreported infections and subclinical cases, is ~1 in 10,000 to 1 in 5,000, or 0.01–0.02%. (In practical terms, the actual mortality rate from measles is 1 - 2 per 10,000, far less than the 1-3 per thousand touted by ‘experts.’)

• Contrary to media reports, no person died from the measles in the United States in 2025.

• From roughly 2000 through 2024, there were fewer than a dozen confirmed acute measles‑caused deaths nationwide, and none since 2015 were attributed purely to the virus itself rather than to massive immune suppression–linked complications years later (which are still debated).

Conclusion

While measles infection can still circulate in small clusters, the actual lethality in a modern, well‑nourished U.S. population is effectively zero when treated promptly. The fear‑based narrative often conflates historical mortality and present‑day risk. The infection can be serious, but the data show that the current mortality risk is negligible compared to the 1960s structure of disease burden

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In Spot the Trick Part 2 we’ll look at the claims of “lives saved by cholesterol lowering statins.”