Measles cases on the rise across U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are currently tracking an unusually high number of measles outbreaks across the United States, with 29 states currently known to have been affected.

So far this year, a total of 13 outbreaks have been reported, which is defined as three or more related cases. Of the total 227 cases, 155 are associated with outbreaks.

Over a third of the cases have occurred in children under the age of five (39%), while 30% of cases have occurred in patients between the ages of five and 19 years.

The CDC reports that 86% of the reported cases were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.

Of the known cases, 44% have required hospitalization. Over half of the hospitalized patients (58%) were under the age of five.

The case numbers in 2024 have been higher than recent years. The CDC recorded 59 cases in 2023, 121 cases in 2022 and 49 cases in 2021, while only 13 individual cases were recorded in 2020.

Measles was once a common disease in the United States, with cases nearing half a million shortly before the vaccine was licensed in 1963. After that date, cases dropped precipitously and the illness was declared eliminated in 2000.

Due to this elimination, measles no longer spreads within the country and new cases generally occur when someone contracts the illness abroad.

Outbreaks occur when measles gets into communities of unvaccinated people. When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated, most people are protected through herd immunity.

However, according to the CDC, vaccination coverage among kindergartners has decreased from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 93.1% in the 2022-3023 school year.

This has placed coverage below the 95% target and the percentage continues to decrease. Meanwhile, according to the CDC, global measles activity is increasing, which increases the chance of contracting the illness abroad.

In Wyoming, an estimated 90.8% of children were vaccinated against measles in the 2022-23 year.

Measles is airborne, extremely infectious and can be potentially severe. Before the vaccine, the CDC estimates that 48,000 people were hospitalized and up to 500 people died in the U.S. each year.

The CDC recommends ensuring protection – especially if you are traveling – through the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which it says is very safe and effective.