The US is facing a serious measles outbreak, with over 300 cases reported across 14 states so far this year. That’s more cases in the first three months of 2025 than in all of last year. The rise in measles cases is connected to a drop in vaccination rates.
Measles
Measles is an unpleasant disease that has killed millions of people. Measles spreads very easily. If someone with measles coughs or sneezes, their germs can stay in the air for hours. That means it’s super easy to get measles if you’re not protected.
The illness brings a high fever and an itchy rash that covers most of the body. Though most children survive the measles, it is deadly in roughly 1 or 2 cases out of every 1,000. But even those who survive can have other problems – like having difficulty fighting off other illnesses.
(Source: CDC/NIP/Barbara Rice, via Wikimedia Commons.)
For years, doctors and scientists have known how to control measles – there’s a vaccine to stop it. With one shot, a person is 93% protected. Two shots are recommended because that offers 97% protection against the measles.
The US began using the measles vaccine in 1963. Before that, there were hundreds of thousands of cases of measles each year. By the 1980s, there were only thousands. By the early 2000s, there were usually fewer than 100 cases a year, and the US considered measles “eliminated’.
(Source: 2over0, from Wikimedia Commons.)
But in recent years, the number of measles cases has been rising.* Though the measles situation in the US is much less severe than in many other parts of the world, the threat is still an important one. And it doesn’t have to happen at all.
Sadly, many people aren’t protected against measles because they aren’t getting vaccinated. Only 2% of the people who got measles this year were fully vaccinated.
Vaccinations don’t only protect people who are vaccinated. If enough people are vaccinated, it prevents the disease from spreading, which protects even those who aren’t vaccinated. Scientists say that about 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to help protect everyone. But currently, only 11 US states have vaccination rates at or above 95%.
(Source: US CDC.)
In Texas, there have been over 250 cases of measles this year, and one child has died. Most of the cases are in areas where vaccination rates are low.
In some parts of the world people don’t get vaccinated because there aren’t enough vaccines. That’s not true in the US.
In the US, students are expected to be vaccinated before they begin school. But most states allow parents to skip vaccinations for their kids if vaccinations are against their religion. In many states, some kids don’t get vaccines simply because their parents decide against it. Parents may have seen some false information that made them think vaccines weren’t safe.
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In some parts of the world people don’t get vaccinated because there aren’t enough vaccines. That’s not true in the US. Dr. Adam Ratner says, “The way to deal with a measles outbreak is to vaccinate people against measles.” Above, the vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
President Donald Trump has put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of health and safety for the US government. Mr. Kennedy has spent much of his life spreading false information about vaccines and encouraging people to avoid them.
Mr. Kennedy has been criticized for his response to the measles outbreak. Though he has pointed out the success of the measles vaccine in the US, he has also described vaccinations as a personal choice, and encouraged parents to “understand their options”. Mr. Kennedy has also suggested using things like cod liver oil and Vitamin A to treat measles.
Doctors are worried that Mr. Kennedy is not focusing enough on the importance of vaccines. Dr. Adam Ratner, who studies and treats infectious diseases in children, says, “The way to deal with a measles outbreak is to vaccinate people against measles.”
* The numbers of measles cases did NOT go up during the coronavirus pandemic. That was mainly because of lockdowns and mask-wearing.
(Front page vaccine image: Dctrzl [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons.)