U.S. reports over 2,000 measles cases in 2025, highest since 1992 / IANS File photo

Measles cases from January to mid-July 2026 totaled more than all cases in 2025. Three people died of measles in the U.S. last year. A single measles-related death in the U.S. had not occurred since 2015. 

At the American Community Media briefing Patsy Stinchfield, pediatric nurse practitioner and Executive Director of the Measles Collaborative, Dr. Benjamin Neuman, Professor of Biology, Texas A&M University, Dr. Andrew Pavia, Professor and Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at University of Utah, and Dr. Jose Romero, Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, warned of the dangers of the surging disease.

Why is measles still a threat 26 years after we declared it eliminated 

There have been 151 hospitalizations from measles so far this year, according to the CDC, including 45 children under age 5 for conditions including low blood oxygen, sepsis and pneumonia. 

Experts blame a fall in vaccination and warn that people have forgotten measles can be life-threatening.

“Measles has not come back because the virus got stronger. The virus is the same. It has come back because we let our guard down,” said Patsy Stinchfield, pediatric nurse practitioner and Executive Director of the Measles Collaborative. “Vaccination rates have been dropping, and the virus exploits that gap.” Measles lives to replicate, and it replicates in an unvaccinated person.

Measles is the most contagious virus on Earth, spreading far more easily than the common cold and when the vaccination rate drops even slightly from the requisite 95percent coverage,community protection is at risk. Measles is stealthy and will find that one unvaccinated person and infect them. 

“ One case can infect 18 people,” said Stinchfield, "Nine out of 10 non-immune people exposed to the virus will become infected. Crucially, people can transmit measles before realizing they are infected.

Once a child is infected with measles, 90 per cent of those they come into close contact with will become infected, if they are not already immune.

“We had a very high vaccination rate in the US, but there are pockets where it dropped, " said Dr. Andrew Pavia, Professor and Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at University of Utah, “specially, in the south western part of the state that straddles Utah and Arizona state. Here the vaccination dropped to 30%.”

Measles outbreak in this community spread out to other communities in Utah.

In Utah a third of our patients were adults over 18, that led to 50 hospitalizations as of July 2026. 

The combination of airborne particles, extreme contagion and transmission before obvious symptoms allows the virus to exploit even relatively small gaps in vaccination.

Measles has not been eradicated. It is circulating around us. Once infected, it can cause loss of site, hearing and even death.

Measles in pregnancy

Pregnant women are at risk of getting very severely ill. and if they are infected with measles in the last 10 to 14 days of their pregnancy, they have a chance of transmitting it to their infant, which is very dangerous and even deadly.

In Ontario three infants died because their mothers had measles during pregnancy. “In Utah, we had 12 pregnant women who developed measles close to their delivery.”

For women who are considering pregnancy it is important to get vaccinated. Once pregnant they will not be able to. “Get it before you get pregnant,” urged Dr. Pavia. 

Stop the baby’s first breath being a lung full of measles virus. 

We know how to stop it from spreading 

Measles vaccines are safe and effective. They are the best way to protect children from getting sick with measles and spreading it to others. Two doses of a measles-containing vaccine provide 99 per cent protection from measles for life.

“The present measles vaccine gives you lifelong immunity,” said Dr.Pavia. 

It is a gamble to go unprotected against measles

Long after the acute illness has resolved, measles can still present a threat. Infection can cause “immune amnesia,” temporarily erasing immune memory and increasing susceptibility to other infections.

A child who appears to recover can years later develop subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, a devastating, progressive inflammation of the brain caused by persistent measles infection. SSPE is almost always fatal.

 

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