Health
‘I’m a pediatrician: I get these top 11 questions about measles’
As measles cases continue to spread throughout the U.S. — with 12 states reporting official outbreaks, according to the latest CDC data — concern is growing among high-risk groups.
Children under the age of 5 are most vulnerable to measles, health experts confirm.
The CDC recommends that children receive two doses of the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and a second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.
MEASLES OUTBREAKS EMERGE ACROSS US: SEE WHICH STATES HAVE REPORTED CASES
That means children under 5 may not have full protection.
As measles cases continue to spread throughout the U.S. — with 12 states reporting official outbreaks, according to the latest CDC data — concern is growing among high-risk groups. (iStock)
Allison Croucher, DO, a pediatrician and doctor of osteopathic medicine with Duly Health and Care in Illinois, said she frequently gets questions from concerned parents looking to protect their children from the highly contagious virus.
Chroucher shared some of the most common inquiries she receives, along with her responses.
1. Should I be worried about measles where I live or where I’m traveling to?
Measles cases have been reported in 20 states so far (according to the CDC): Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Children under the age of 5 are most vulnerable to measles, health experts confirm. (iStock)
Even if you do not live in one of those areas, keep a close eye on local health alerts, since the disease is rapidly evolving.
Your state’s Department of Health website, which should end in “.gov,” is a great place to start. If you plan on traveling to an area with reported cases, be sure to seek guidance from your doctor beforehand.
2. How do I know if my child is fully vaccinated?
A child is considered fully vaccinated for measles if they have received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at least four weeks apart.
The first dose is typically given to children between 12 and 15 months old, followed by the second at four to six years.
In the early stages, symptoms to watch out for include fever, cough, runny nose, and red, irritated eyes. (iStock)
3. Can my infant get the vaccine early?
In certain cases, yes. Infants who are high-risk or traveling to areas with active cases may be eligible to get the MMR vaccine between six months and 12 months of age. This depends on individual circumstances, so it’s important to talk with your pediatrician.
Keep in mind that an early dose doesn’t count on the regular vaccination schedule — your child will still need two additional doses after their first birthday.
ANOTHER STATE CONFIRMS MEASLES CASE WITH INFECTED CHILD ITS FIRST OF YEAR
4. What if my infant is too young to get the MMR vaccine?
If your infant is too young for the vaccine, it’s important to take extra precautions to limit their exposure to others who are or might be ill. Don’t be afraid to decline travel or gatherings — you have every right to protect your child’s health.
5. How early can my child get their second MMR vaccine?
For children over one year, the second MMR dose can be given as early as four weeks after the first. Once they’ve received both doses, children are considered fully vaccinated and don’t require any additional doses.
“One to three of every 1,000 children infected with measles will die due to complications from the disease.”
6. We have been around other people who recently traveled. What symptoms should we watch for?
In the early stages, symptoms to watch out for include fever, cough, runny nose, and red, irritated eyes.
These symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days after initial exposure.
7. My child is showing signs of a cold. Could this be early-stage measles?
It’s not always easy to tell, since measles shares symptoms with many other illnesses. One key differentiator is that children with measles typically display very high fevers, around 104°F. They also tend to be very fussy.
Around the second or third day of symptoms, many patients develop small, bluish-white spots on their inner cheeks, referred to as Koplik spots — though not every child will develop these spots. The telltale red rash typically develops three to five days into the illness.
A child is considered fully vaccinated for measles if they have received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at least four weeks apart. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
8. What does the measles rash look like?
This rash typically starts three to five days after the initial symptoms. It begins as small spots on the face near the hairline, then spreads downwards and can cover the entire body.
9. Why is measles dangerous?
Measles can have many complications, ranging from mild to severe. About one in 10 people will develop ear infections or diarrhea.
About one in five unvaccinated children with measles will require hospitalization. Up to one in 20 children will contract pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death from the disease.
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About one in 1,000 children will develop encephalitis, or inflammation and swelling of the brain. This can lead to seizures, lifelong disability or even death. In all, one to three of every 1,000 children infected with measles will die due to complications from the disease.
10. Why aren’t some people getting their kids the MMR vaccine?
There is a growing amount of misinformation and disinformation circulating about vaccines, which has led some parents to delay or skip them altogether.
The MMR vaccine has been safely administered to millions of people and has an excellent safety record — and research has repeatedly debunked the myth that the vaccine is linked to autism.
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11. What should I do if I think my child might have the measles?
Don’t wait — contact your doctor right away. They can guide you through the next steps.
The above questions and answers were provided by Allison Croucher, DO, a pediatrician and doctor of osteopathic medicine with Duly Health and Care in Illinois.
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Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of older age, is becoming a crisis for younger adults. New research shows one group getting hit the hardest – those without a college degree.
A recent study from the American Cancer Society analyzed data from over 101,000 adults aged 25 to 49 who died from colorectal cancer between 1994 and 2023.
While death rates remained stable for college graduates, they climbed significantly for those without a bachelor’s degree, the findings showed.
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For young adults with a high school education or less, the mortality rate rose from 4.0 to 5.2 per 100,000 people, while the rate for those with at least a bachelor’s degree stayed flat, at approximately 2.7 per 100,000.
This does not mean that a degree offers some kind of biological protection, researchers cautioned.
Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of older age, is becoming a crisis for younger adults. (iStock)
The difference is likely driven by the conditions in which people live and work, which often correlate with education levels, the researchers noted.
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The study suggests that the higher death rates are likely driven by differences in the prevalence of risk factors, including obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and diet, which are “known to be elevated among children and young adults with lower [socioeconomic status].”
Because the study relied on death certificates, researchers couldn’t say exactly why college graduates had better outcomes.
Because the researchers didn’t have the patients’ actual medical records, they couldn’t see things like frequency of screenings or treatment options, which would impact survival outcomes. (iStock)
Certificates typically list the cause of death, age, race and education level, but they do not include a person’s full medical history.
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Because the researchers didn’t have the patients’ actual medical records, they couldn’t see things like frequency of screenings or treatment options, which would impact survival outcomes.
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Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death for men under 50 and the second leading cause for women in the same age group, according to recent statistics.
While colorectal cancer death rates remained stable for college graduates, they climbed significantly for those without a bachelor’s degree, the findings showed. (iStock)
Because the disease is highly treatable when caught early, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) lowered the recommended screening age from 50 to 45 in 2021.
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Common signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer can include a change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days, according to the American Cancer Society.
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Other signs that warrant seeing a doctor include blood in the stool or a persistent feeling of needing to go to the bathroom but being unable to go.
The research was published in JAMA Oncology.
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A young woman who started vaping at the age of 15 has been given just 18 months to live — after being diagnosed with lung cancer in her early 20s.
Kayley Boda, 22, of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, was engaging in heavy vaping on a regular basis when she started coughing up a brown substance with “grainy bits” in it in January 2025, news agency SWNS reported.
The retail assistant said doctors turned her away eight times, telling her she had a chest infection — until she began coughing up blood.
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After seven biopsies, Boda was diagnosed with lung cancer. She underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy — and in February 2026, got the all-clear, the same source reported.
Two months later, though, doctors said the cancer had come back in the pleural lining. Now she’s been given 18 months to live.
Kayley Boda, 22, is shown in the hospital. She started coughing up a brown substance with “grainy bits” in January 2025, she said. She had been vaping since the age of 15. (SWNS)
The young woman has now issued a warning to others to be aware of the dangers of vaping.
Boda said she smoked a bit as a young teenager. She took up vaping after that.
Then, “a few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus,” as SWNS reported.
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“Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection. … Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-ray and found a shadow on my lung,” she added.
“They told me they were 99% sure, [since I was] so young, that it wasn’t cancer, so not to worry about it. When I got the results back, and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal.”
Boda said she was “very naive” before her diagnosis and thought that “something like this would never happen to me.”
She said that she had surgery to remove half of her right lung.
“After the surgery, I started chemo and I had a terrible reaction to it. I couldn’t lift my head up. I was throwing up blood. I was urinating blood. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep.”
VACATION HOT SPOT CRACKS DOWN ON VAPING WITH JAIL THREATS AND HEFTY FINES
She said that when she got the “all clear [in Feb. 2026], it felt amazing, but just two months later I was told the cancer had come back, and I have 18 months to live.”
She added, “I’m 22. This isn’t meant to happen to somebody my age.”
“Stay off the vapes because they will catch up with you.”
She blames her cancer on vaping, she said.
“My symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there’s no lung cancer in my family,” she said. “I haven’t vaped for three months, I’ve made my partner stop, I’ve made my mom stop, I’m urging all my friends to stop. Stay off the vapes,” she continued, “because they will catch up with you.”
When doctors did an X-ray, they found a shadow on Boda’s right lung. She was later diagnosed with lung cancer and has undergone surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy. (SWNS)
She said she’d been using reusable vapes since the age of 15 and began using disposable vapes a few months before her cancer symptoms started.
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In November 2024, when she developed a rash all over her body, doctors said it could have been due to shingles, chicken pox or scabies, she told SWNS.
‘Nothing worked’
“I got treated for all three, and nothing worked,” Boda said. “It got to the point where I was cutting myself from scratching so hard.”
A few months after that, she began coughing up a dark brown mucus, with “grainy bits, the consistency of sugar, in it,” she said. When the coughing continued, she visited the doctor’s office, but was told it could be scarring from pneumonia or a chest infection, she also said.
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It wasn’t until March 2025 that she began coughing up bright red blood. At that point, doctors gave her a chest X-ray and told her they’d found a shadow on her lower right lung.
Over the next four months, she had seven biopsies as doctors took samples from the “shadow.” In August, when she went to get the results, she was told she had stage one lung cancer.
Boda is shown in the hospital. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy. (SWNS)
In September 2025, she had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, and the surrounding lymph nodes. During the surgery, doctors upstaged her cancer from stage one to stage three after finding cancer in six surrounding lymph nodes, she said.
Following the surgery, Boda was unable to breathe properly and had to learn to walk all over again.
“The oncologist said this is so rare.”
After finishing chemotherapy in February 2026, Kayley was given the all clear, leaving her feeling elated.
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However, just a month after that, she began experiencing extreme chest pains and was told by doctors she had a pleural effusion — a build-up of fluid in the lungs. She had the fluid removed, but when doctors tested it, they discovered her cancer had returned to the pleural lining of her lungs, giving her 18 months to live.
“The oncologist said this is so rare, and usually something they see in patients that are 80 years old,” she said, as SWNS reported.
Increasingly, vacation hot spots are enforcing strict bans on the use of e-cigarettes in public venues. (iStock)
Boda claimed that doctors were unable to pin her cancer to a specific cause — but told her that smoking and vaping definitely didn’t help.
Since her diagnosis, she has stopped and is urging others to stop, too.
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She’s hoping to raise the thousands of dollars needed for treatment to try to prolong her life, she said.
Last year, Fox News Digital reported on the case of a Pennsylvania woman, 26, who said she vaped for just one year before her lungs collapsed. She was 22 when she took up the habit, she said in an interview.
“Everybody warned me about it, but I didn’t listen — I wish that I did,” she said.
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Dr. David Campbell, clinical director and program director at Recover Together Bend in Oregon, told Fox News Digital at that time that signs of collapsed lungs include sharp chest or shoulder pain, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.
Lung issues are just one of the many health issues linked to vaping, he warned. The habit can also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as exposure to harmful heavy metals.
Melissa Rudy of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
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The key to feeling better in a fast, overstimulated world might be surprisingly simple: Live a little more like your grandparents.
A growing social media trend, dubbed “nonnamaxxing,” draws inspiration from the slower, more intentional rhythms associated with an Italian grandmother.
The lifestyle is often linked to activities like preparing home-cooked meals, spending time outdoors and making meaningful connections.
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“Nonnamaxxing is a 2026 trend that embraces the slower, more intentional lifestyle of an Italian grandmother (a Nonna). Think cooking from scratch, long family meals, daily walks, gardening and less screen time,” Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, told Fox News Digital.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
Stepping away from screens and toward real-world interaction can have measurable benefits, according to California-based psychotherapist Laurie Singer.
“We know that interacting with others in person, rather than spending time on screens, significantly improves mental health,” she told Fox News Digital, adding that social media often fuels comparison and lowers self-esteem.
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Living more like previous generations isn’t purely driven by nostalgia. Cooking meals from scratch, for example, has been linked to better nutrition and more mindful eating patterns.
Adopting traditional mealtime habits can improve diet quality and support both physical and mental health, especially when meals are shared regularly with others, Palinski-Wade noted.
One longevity expert stresses that staying healthy isn’t just about food — it’s also about joy and community. (iStock)
There’s also a psychological benefit to slowing down and focusing on one task at a time. Anxiety often stems from unfinished or avoided tasks, Singer noted, and engaging in hands-on activities can counteract that.
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“Nonnamaxxing encourages us to be present around a task, like gardening, baking or knitting, or just taking a mindful walk, that delivers something ‘real,’” she said.
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Palinski-Wade cautions against turning the trend into another source of pressure, noting that a traditional “nonna” lifestyle often assumes a different pace of life.
The key, she said, is adapting the mindset, not replicating it perfectly.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
The goal is to reintroduce small, intentional moments that make you feel better.
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That might mean prioritizing a few shared meals each week, taking a walk without your phone or setting aside time for a simple hobby, the expert recommended.
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Singer added, “Having a positive place to escape to, through whatever activities speak to us and make us happy, isn’t generational – it’s human.”
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