Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a
virus. It is recognized by its characteristic rash that starts on the face and
spreads down the body. Like many viral diseases, there is no treatment.
Complications, although rare, can be severe, such as pneumonia, neurologic
damage, blindness, even death.
Measles used to be a common childhood disease. Almost
everyone caught it before the end of the teen years. Each year, about 48,000
people were hospitalized in the US for measles complications, and there were
400-500 measles deaths annually. Once you’d survived measles, you were thought
to be immune for the rest of your life.
With the creation of an effective, safe vaccine, themeasles story changed for the better. The measles vaccine is administered
in a combination injection along with vaccines against mumps and rubella, termed
MMR. Two spaced doses of the MMR vaccine provide 97% protection against measles.
Measles is now considered a preventable disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will declare acountry or world region to be measles-free when there is no sustained,
endemic transmission for at least 12 months. (Cases may still occur due to
international travel). The US was declared measles-free in 2000, thanks to
widespread childhood vaccination. Maintaining this status requires both a 95%
vaccination rate and vigilance to quarantine new cases.
Vaccination programs worldwide are saving the lives
of children everywhere. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has helped
other countries strengthen vaccination programs and surveillance systems to
detect outbreaks.
In 2025 in the US and around the world, the number of
measles cases increased alarmingly. There were linked outbreaks of measles in
Texas, Arizona, and South Carolina. The final US yearly count for 2025 was
2,267 confirmed cases. In 2024, the annual count was 285 cases.
By February 5, 2026, the CDC confirmed 773 US measles
cases. That’s probably an undercount. As of January 30, the CDC had
reported 467 confirmed cases in South Carolina, but state officials reported
847 cases. The trend is alarming.
Will the US lose its measles-elimination designation?
Canada lost theirs in November 2025. The Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission for
Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (RVC) will conduct areview on April 13th this year.
To learn more about measles, please check out the Measles
poster set on Healthinfo Island during February. Here is the SLURL:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/195/158/22
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