Wisconsin Department of Health Services Advises Families to Vaccinate Ahead of School Year

WISCONSIN – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services released the vaccination data report from the previous school year

The data shows 86.4% of students in Wisconsin met the minimum immunization requirements, which is below the national public health standard of 95%. DHS says a majority of Wisconsin families are getting their children vaccinated, but this level is not quite where it needs to be to protect people against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases as kids head back to school.

“When vaccination rates decline, then cases of vaccine-preventable illnesses can surge,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer, DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases. “As of last week, the CDC was reporting 1333 measles cases confirmed across the US in 2025, this is more than 1000 cases higher than the level was in 2024, which was 285.”

The Wisconsin DHS confirmed its first nine measles cases of 2025 over the weekend, and health officials are urging families to get their children vaccinated to prevent the spread of diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella.