( CNN ) A new CNN/ORC poll shows nearly 8 of 10 Americans believe parents should be required to vaccinate their healthy children against preventable diseases such as measles , mumps , rubella and polio . If the children are not vaccinated , most agree the child should not be allowed to attend public school or day care . These results come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a total of 154 cases of measles in the country , from January 1 , 2015 to February 20 , 2015 . That 's an additional 13 cases in the last week . The poll , conducted February 12-15 , 2015 , found 78 % of the respondents believe parents should be required to vaccinate their child against preventable diseases if the child is healthy ; only 22 % disagree . Older Americans are most supportive of the required vaccinations ( 84 % of those 50+ versus 72 % of those under 50 ) , and women express more support than men ( 81 % to 75 % ) . Seventy percent of parents with children under age 18 also agree with the requirement . Nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe that children should be barred from public school and day care activities if they are not vaccinated ( 58 % say a child should not be allowed to participate in public school ; 61 % daycare ) . But when it comes to private schools , Americans are split : 51 % say they should be allowed ; 48 % say they should not . Another 39 % of Americans think it 's likely that measles will strike their local community within the next few weeks . More women than men say they believe measles might infect someone in their community ( 43 % vs. 33 % ) and Democrats see it as more likely than Republicans ( 45 % vs. 36 % ) . Residents of the West are most concerned , with 39 % saying its 'very likely ' measles will strike their community , compared with 10 % in the Northeast and 8 % in both the South and Midwest . According to the CDC , 118 of the reported 154 cases are linked to a large , ongoing multi-state measles outbreak that started in the Disneyland amusement park last December . There are two other , ongoing outbreaks , one in Illinois with 14 cases linked to a daycare and Nevada where there are six cases . The majority of people who have developed measles were unvaccinated . Health officials say the rise in measles and other vaccine preventable diseases is being fueled by people who opt not to vaccinate . The poll interviews were conducted for CNN via landlines and cellphones by ORC International . All respondents were asked about basic demographics , and the sample was weighted to reflect national census figures for age , race , gender , education , geographic region and telephone usage . CNN 's Debra Goldschmidt contributed to this report .
Nearly 8 in 10 believe parents should be required to # vaccinate children against preventable diseases . Comment: Nearly 4 in 10 Americans think measles likely will strike their community within the next few weeks .