\n The US is on track for another record-breaking year for measles: The number of measles cases reported in the first eight weeks of the year \u2014 \u200b1,136 as of February \u200b26, according to CDC data<\/a> \u2014 is already six times more than typical for an entire year. A tracker<\/a> from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation has tallied an even higher the annual case total than the CDC.\n <\/p>\n \n The current US trajectory for measles cases is \u201cdisappointing and depressing and ominous,\u201d said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center \u2014 especially because there is a safe and highly effective vaccine available to protect against measles infection and its complications.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMeasles is a fierce infection, and we should be preventing it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can strike any healthy, normal child in its most severe fashion.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But the vast majority of measles cases reported in the US so far this year \u2014 \u200babout 96% \u2014 have been among people who have not been vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or who have not received both recommended doses. More than 80% have been among children and teens, with about 1 in 4 cases among children under 5.\n <\/p>\n \n Last year, the US reported nearly 2,300 measles cases \u2014 more than there have been in a single year since 1991, and significantly more<\/a> than there have been in any year since measles declared eliminated in 2000.\n <\/p>\n \n Three people died from measles last year: two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat\u2019s in that range of one to three deaths per 1,000 (cases). So, can we expect another death? Yes, I think we\u2019re getting there where we can expect another death,\u201d said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease physician and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia. \u201cAnd it is unconscionable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhen more people are choosing not to vaccinate their children, you\u2019re going to see more disease, more suffering, more hospitalization and more death,\u201d he said. \u201cChildren are dying from a vaccine-preventable disease because their parents are choosing not to vaccinate them, and they\u2019re choosing not to vaccinate them because they fear the vaccine more than they fear the disease.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n More than half of US states have reported a measles case so far this year, and there are at least three large outbreaks happening across the country that continue to grow.\n <\/p>\n \n A record-breaking measles outbreak<\/a> in the upstate region of South Carolina has led to at least 985 cases since it started in October, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.\n <\/p>\n \n The outbreak is centered in Spartanburg County, where vaccination rates \u200bare \u200bparticularly low. As with broader national trends, nearly all measles cases in South Carolina \u2014 more than 93% \u2014 are among people who have not been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, according to state health department data<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n While no deaths have been reported, the state has reported severe complications from measles \u2014 including pneumonia and encephalitis, which can leave the patient deaf or with intellectual disability. Several pregnant women also required immunoglobulin treatment after exposure to help protect against the high risk of complications, the state health department said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThese are complications we hope to prevent, and increasing vaccination coverage protects those who cannot be vaccinated, like young infants, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems,\u201d South Carolina State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said at a news briefing earlier this month.\n <\/p>\n \n Earlier this month, Prisma Health, a large health care system in South Carolina, implemented a new policy mandating masking for patients and visitors in emergency departments and in labor and delivery units.\n <\/p>\n \n These measures are meant to \u201creduce the risk of transmission and ensure a safe environment for patients, visitors and team members,\u201d Prisma Health said in a news release.\n <\/p>\n \n New measles cases have started to slow in South Carolina in recent weeks. Less than two dozen cases were reported last week, which is down from nearly 250 cases reported in one week at the height of the outbreak in mid-January.\n <\/p>\n \n The downward trend is happening a bit earlier than originally projected, Bell said on Wednesday, crediting public health groundwork that has helped rapidly identify cases and potential exposures and drive quarantine guidance.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cFrom the beginning of the outbreak, controlling the spread of measles and protecting people from disease has been our primary objective, and I don\u2019t want anyone to miss that. That is our priority,\u201d Bell said.\n <\/p>\n \n Improving vaccination coverage has also helped, she said. The state health department administered nearly 17,000 MMR vaccines in January, which was one of the most successful months for vaccination that the state has had in years. But more work is needed, including raising vaccination coverage even more.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis is not over yet. It\u2019s not nearly over yet,\u201d Bell said Wednesday. \u201cIt is these pockets of undervaccinated people who remain susceptible. That ongoing susceptibility in our population may continue to fuel ongoing spread.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The South Carolina health department has about 90 staff members spending a majority of their time on the measles outbreak, Bell told CNN in an email, about a third of whom are focused on contact tracing.\n <\/p>\n \n The health department will also receive support from about a dozen entry-level epidemiologists provided by the CDC Foundation, \u200ban independent nonprofit that helps support the agency\u2019s mission, who will increase capacity for case investigation, contact tracing and data management for a few months.\n <\/p>\n \n They\u2019ve also requested help from a CDC field team to help with epidemiological analysis.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cNow that cases are decreasing, there are opportunities to use what data DPH epidemiologists have collected to learn from this response and continue working to stop measles transmission. CDC scientists have expertise and resources to make these studies happen to advance public health and our understanding of measles,\u201d Bell said in an email to CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n And significant, sustained measles spread in other parts of the US keep the county on a worrisome trajectory.\n <\/p>\n![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-13t111721z-14821334-rc2hgja298tp-rtrmadp-3-health-usa-measles-spartanburg.JPG\")
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