{"id":65533,"date":"2025-07-14T18:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T18:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/65533\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T18:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T18:26:15","slug":"why-it-matters-if-the-u-s-loses-the-measles-elimination-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/65533\/","title":{"rendered":"Why It Matters If The U.S. Loses The Measles Elimination Status"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. has reported more measles cases in the first half of this year than in any full year since 1992, raising concerns that the country could lose its measles elimination status and undo a 25-year public health victory amid declining vaccine rates.<\/p>\n

But exactly what does that risk mean and how close is it to really happening?<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization sets the criteria for elimination status,<\/a> requiring a country \u2014 or defined geographical area \u2014 to go at least 12 months without continuous domestic transmission of a virus. That means any new outbreaks during that time must come from people who contracted the virus from outside, not inside, the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) is considered the best defense in stopping measles outbreaks. Unfortunately vaccine rates have been dropping in recent years.<\/p>\n

Houston Chronicle\/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Under that criteria, the U.S. has until January to eliminate the nation\u2019s current outbreaks, which is a year after cases started domestically in Texas, according to epidemiology experts. If it doesn\u2019t, the U.S.\u2019s measles elimination status could be taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be more impactful than a lot of Americans think about since we have had measles elimination status for so long,\u201d Brittany Kmush, associate professor and graduate director of Syracuse University\u2019s Public Health Department, told HuffPost.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could affect U.S. citizens\u2019 ability to travel to specific countries if they don\u2019t want the risk of measles getting introduced to their country. It could affect other people\u2019s ability to come visit the U.S. Other countries might require proof of measles vaccination before they can reenter their home country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

There could also be increased quarantine and isolation requirements, with potential economic fallout, she said.<\/p>\n

On top of this, many more people could be at risk of contracting the virus, which is considered one of the most contagious in the world. If just one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of if and when an infectious individual enters one of those communities and kind of invites an outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

– William Moss, executive director of Johns Hopkins\u2019 International Vaccine Access Center<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a cold for a lot of people. It can lead to phenomena and in rare cases encephalitis and death,\u201d said Kmush. Children younger than 5 years of age are especially vulnerable to severe illness and health complications. <\/p>\n

Fortunately, there\u2019s still time this year to fight outbreaks. Losing the elimination status is also purposely made challenging because, unless the virus is globally eradicated \u2015 a feat only seen with smallpox \u2015 there\u2019s always going to be cases brought into the U.S. from outside, said William Moss, executive director of Johns Hopkins\u2019 International Vaccine Access Center, who co-leads the school\u2019s measles tracking project.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as there\u2019s measles virus circulating somewhere in the world, there\u2019s always going to be these importations,\u201d he told HuffPost. <\/strong>\u201cIt would be very hard to maintain measles elimination status if every time someone brought it in and there was another case, you would lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether or not outbreaks will stop before the deadline remains uncertain, however.<\/p>\n

Measles cases in the U.S. have been dropping since their peak in March, giving hope that outbreaks may be petering out. But vaccination rates remain at their lowest in years in the U.S., reducing so-called \u201cherd immunity\u201d<\/a> and opening the door for new outbreaks to ignite in communities that have low vaccination rates.<\/p>\n

\"MeaslesMeasles cases have been dropping this year since hitting a peak in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of if and when an infectious individual enters one of those communities and kind of invites an outbreak,\u201d said Moss, while comparing the chances to a hot ember drifting from a wildfire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it lands in a wet area, you\u2019re not going to have an outbreak if there\u2019s high vaccine coverage. But if it enters an area with really low vaccine coverage, you could have another really large outbreak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With less than six months left in the year, Moss says it\u2019s still too early to start a countdown or \u201creally sweat about this.\u201d He also said that even if elimination status is lost, cases are at least unlikely to return to the levels seen in the early 1990s, since vaccine levels do remain reasonably high.<\/p>\n

Kmush, however, expressed more caution on the chances of elimination being a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am definitely alarmed,\u201d she said, while pointing out that the U.S. nearly lost its elimination status in 2019 when there were fewer cases than those seen this year. She credited a rise in vaccine coverage and public health advocacy toward the end of that year for sparing the U.S. from losing its status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to get them vaccinated and do the quarantine and isolation,\u201d she said of vulnerable communities. \u201cUnfortunately, measles vaccination rates are even lower now than they were in 2019 and 99% of the cases that have been reported in this outbreak are either not vaccinated or have unknown vaccination status.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MeaslesMeasles cases are unlikely to rise to the levels seen 35 years ago, thanks to high vaccine rates. There were 17,914 cases in 1989 and 27,808 cases in 1990, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n

She and Moss both also stressed that the U.S. getting its elimination status back after losing it is also no easy feat.<\/p>\n

A country would have to show zero continuous transmission of the virus domestically for 36 months, as well as demonstrate a good virus surveillance system, which Moss said the U.S. does have.<\/p>\n

As far as what can be done now, Kmush said more people need to get vaccinated, calling it \u201cthe greatest tool\u201d in decreasing cases and protecting those who are unable to get vaccinated, such as babies younger than six months of age or people who are immunocompromised. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do quarantine, isolation, similar to the idea with COVID, but measles is a lot more contagious than COVID,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so we really need everyone who is eligible to get the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also stressed that federal health officials need to do more to reduce vaccine hesitancy and skepticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think certain administrators and their views on vaccines have been fueling some of this vaccine hesitancy and people\u2019s reluctance to receive a vaccine that\u2019s been proven safe and effective for decades,\u201d she said. \u201cThe policies and some of the vaccine hesitancy and skepticism rhetoric is definitely dangerous and going to make people who are unsure about vaccines even more unsure, when they really shouldn\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HHSHHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has offered inconsistent and tepid public support for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.<\/p>\n

Tom Williams via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has no formal medical background and has a long record of anti-vaccine advocacy and other conspiracy theories, is among those who has offered inconsistent and tepid support for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, he falsely claimed that the current vaccine administered, which was first distributed<\/a> in 1968, hasn\u2019t been safely tested and that its protection is short-lived. That\u2019s despite widespread use of the vaccine being credited with achieving the nation\u2019s elimination status in 2000 and saving hundreds of lives each year.<\/p>\n

Before the measles vaccine was introduced, an estimated 48,000 people were hospitalized and 400\u2013500 people died annually in the U.S., according to the CDC.<\/a><\/p>\n

A HHS spokesperson, when recently contacted by HuffPost about the rise in cases, said that measles infection risks remain low for the overall U.S. population, \u201clower than peer developed countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cCDC continues to recommend MMR vaccines as the best way to protect against measles,\u201d the spokesperson added, while calling the decision to vaccinate \u201ca personal one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should consult with their healthcare provider to understand their options to get inoculated and should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The U.S. has reported more measles cases in the first half of this year than in any full…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[210,2036,881,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-65533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-measles","10":"tag-public-health","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114852999178005710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}