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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced late last week that the number of measles cases across the United States is approaching 900, with most of those who have contracted the virus being unvaccinated children.
Measles is a dangerous and potentially deadly virus. While it is most recognized by the appearance of skin abrasions on a person’s body, infection can also cause significant respiratory problems. The virus can have long-term effects, including damage to a person’s lungs and even permanent brain damage.
Despite these risks, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has downplayed the significance of the number of infections this year.
The CDC reported that there have been 884 confirmed cases of measles across 30 jurisdictions in the U.S. Of the places where the virus has been documented, six states (Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas) are in an “outbreak” status, meaning that there have been three or more cases identified within the state. The majority of cases reported were in Texas, which has seen 646 cases since the start of this year.
Three in 10 cases of measles documented have involved children under the age of 5 years old, with another 4 in 10 cases involving people between the ages of 5 and 19. Nearly all of the cases (96 percent) involve people who were unvaccinated for measles or who have an unknown vaccination status.
More than 1 in 10 of those identified as having measles this year have required hospitalization — the rate is higher for children under the age of 5, with 2 in 10 in that age group requiring hospitalization.
This year’s measles count is significantly higher than in recent years — indeed, there were only 527 total cases of measles documented by the CDC from the start of 2020 to the end of 2024.
2019 is the year with the highest number of cases documented over the past two decades, with 1,274 cases counted. However, that number accounts for the entire calendar year — if the current pace of cases in 2025 continues, the U.S. could see more than double that number by December.
The number of cases counted so far could also be an undercount.
“I think it’s likely that there are a lot of unreported cases in children who weren’t particularly sick or didn’t come to medical attention,” said Marschall Runge, dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, speaking to ABC News.
Kennedy, who has peddled anti-vaccination conspiracy theories for many years (often resulting in disastrous outcomes), recently acknowledged that a measles vaccine is an effective way to prevent infection. But he has also peddled dangerous disinformation about the current outbreaks, specifically in Texas, wrongly claiming that children who are hospitalized are there solely for quarantine purposes, contradicting doctors’ statements and ignoring the severity of those patients’ symptoms. He has also pushed unproven remedies for those who are infected with the virus, such as cod liver oil and vitamin A, which has resulted in parents making their children sick by overusing these methods.
The CDC’s report on hundreds of measles cases documented this year comes as a new study published in JAMA this month demonstrates that diminishing vaccination rates could lead to millions more being infected over the next 25 years — an alarming conclusion, as around 1 to 3 children out of every 1,000 who get infected with measles in the U.S. die from the virus.
If vaccination rates stay the same as they are now (which is probably lower than they were at the start of the century), there will likely be 850,000 new cases documented in the next 25 years, the study found. However, if rates fall by just 10 percent, there would be a substantial increase in cases, with around 11.1 million occurring in that time. And if vaccination rates dip below 50 percent, the infection rate could exceed 50 million cases.
“There really shouldn’t be any cases at this point, because these diseases are preventable,” said Matthew Kiang, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at Stanford University. “Anything above zero is tragic. When you’re talking about potentially thousands or millions, that’s unfathomable.”
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