Enlarge / A boy smiles as he gets a measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination. (credit: Getty | Robyn Beck)

State health departments are facing federal budget cuts to programs that support childhood vaccination, which are coming at a time when immunization rates among children are slipping and under threat from anti-vaccine rhetoric.

News of the budget cuts was first reported by KFF Health News, which obtained a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention email dated June 27 that informed states of future funding reductions. The email, addressed to state immunization managers and signed by two CDC officials, said that the cuts will be “a significant change to your budget.”

“There will be no easy solution for this,” the CDC email read. “We know that this change will require some tough decisions.”