The most useful World Cup health prep may be the least theatrical: check your measles doses. CBS tied Bangladesh's outbreak to U.S. World Cup concern and made the point more plainly than the panic cycle will. [1]

Thursday's paper said mass gatherings belonged in outbreak guidance, and it also said school MMR coverage had slipped below the practical herd-immunity target. Friday's travel version ranks risks by what a reader can actually do.

Measles is highly contagious, globally active and vaccine-preventable. CDC's global page tracks outbreak countries. [2] CDC's U.S. page supplies the domestic case and vaccination context for travelers who may assume childhood records are somebody else's problem. [3]

Ebola fear will pull the camera because the word is frightening. But for most soccer travelers, measles is the service story: find the record, confirm two doses, ask about catch-up if uncertain, and do it before airport week.

That is not comfort copy. It is the discipline health coverage owes readers. A risk with a working checklist deserves more attention than a panic with no action step.

The same rule should govern teams, fan groups and host cities: publish the boring guidance early enough for it to be useful.

-- NORA WHITFIELD, Chicago