"At This Rate It Will Top 3,000"...Unimaginable Outbreak Sparks Chilling Public Fears of Becoming a "Backward Country"

Measles Cases in the U.S. Poised to Surpass 33-Year High
Analysts Point to Declining Vaccination Rates

Measles, long regarded as a "disease of less developed countries," is spreading across the United States. As analyses point to declining vaccination rates as the cause, warnings are emerging that the U.S. could lose its measles elimination status.

Measles rash. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Koplik spots in the mouth caused by measles. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CNN reported on the 12th (local time), citing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that a total of 896 measles infections had been reported from the beginning of this year through that day. This is more than double the 10-year annual average of 429 cases.

If the current trend does not reverse, the number of measles patients in the United States is expected to surpass last year’s figure of 2,274, which was the highest level in 33 years.

The vast majority of patients were children or adolescents under the age of 20. A total of 57% of all patients were between 5 and 19 years old, and 28% were under 5 years old. In addition, 95% of the patients had never received a measles vaccine.

Measles is a respiratory infectious disease with extremely strong airborne transmissibility. Among people without immunity, more than 90% become infected if they come into contact with a measles patient. However, it is fully preventable through vaccination. For this reason, advanced countries such as the United States, where vaccination programs are thorough, obtained measles elimination status after 2000.

Medical staff administering a measles vaccine to a child. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

Until recently, measles was perceived as a "backward-country infectious disease" that appeared mainly in developing nations with poor vaccine distribution. But as vaccination rates have declined in the United States, measles cases are once again reemerging. As recently as the 2019-2020 school year, the vaccination rate among U.S. kindergarteners for measles, rubella, and other epidemic infectious diseases stood at 95.2%. Over the past five years, however, that figure has fallen to 92.5%. The vaccination rate generally required to maintain herd immunity against infectious diseases is 95%.

In this regard, the CDC has warned, "If measles transmission continues for more than one year, the United States will lose its measles elimination status."

Some also argue that the anti-vaccine stance of the Trump administration has fueled the spread of measles. President Trump last year appointed vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Department of Health and Human Services reduced the recommended number of childhood vaccinations and cut off subsidies to the pediatric association that criticized its anti-vaccine policies.