After a year of ongoing measles outbreaks that have sickened more than 2,400 people, the United States is poised to lose its status as a measles-free country. However, the newly appointed principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ralph Abraham, said he was unbothered by the prospect at a briefing for … Read more
A new county-level dataset from Johns Hopkins University researchers reveals a national decline in the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination rate among U.S. children since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of 2,066 studied counties, 1,614 counties, 78%, reported drops in vaccinations and the average county-level vaccination rate fell 93.92% pre-pandemic to 91.26% post-pandemic-an average decline … Read more
For 30 years, pediatrician Tammy Camp, MD, of Lubbock, Texas, never once encountered a case of measles on the job. Now, that’s all changed. As she told colleagues last week, that’s not all that’s different in West Texas, the epicenter of the 2025 measles outbreak in the Southwest. “We’re seeing mothers who are scared, crying … Read more
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of Texas are struggling to contain growing measles outbreaks in the face of declining support from the federal government, said a CDC official at a meeting of the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Tuesday. Even as the Texas-centered outbreak continues … Read more
By the late 1990s, annual cases of measles in the United States dwindled to a few dozen, down from more than 27,000 in 1990. However, the disease remained a mainstay of medical education for dermatologists. While few trainees might see measles in practice, the thinking went, the lesions were still a useful benchmark for diagnosing … Read more
The measles outbreak that originated in Gaines County, Texas, has continued to spread with 481 cases identified since late January, almost all of them in unvaccinated individuals. In all, 56 of those patients have been hospitalized and two children — girls aged 6 years and 8 years — have died from the disease. The rise … Read more
A recent report shows cases of measles across the World Health Organization’s European Region, which includes the UK, are the highest they’ve been for more than 25 years. At the same time, large outbreaks of measles in the US have led to the first measles deaths there since 2015. For our new series, LSHTM Unpacked, … Read more
That patient’s cough or runny nose might just be a cold — but what if it’s measles? A growing number of Americans and their doctors may find themselves asking this question. Understanding the signs and what to do if you see them in a patient may be a key in limiting spread. Twelve US states … Read more
Data presented in the monthly measles and rubella update by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) indicate ongoing transmission of measles across a number of countries in EU/EEA, with a steep rise in cases reported during 2024. After a period of unusually low measles activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, an uptick was … Read more
Measles outbreaks in the United States quadrupled from 2023 to 2024, while vaccination rates among kindergarteners declined, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The latest information on measles cases and outbreaks showed that 16 measles outbreaks (defined by the CDC as three or more related cases) occurred in 2024 … Read more