United States: According to an official report published on Thursday, the United States faces a critical threshold that poses a risk of endemic measles returning twenty-five years after its successful eradication.
More about the news
Computer models used in performing this research show that if US childhood vaccination rates stay at their current levels, then measles could spread at high levels regularly during the next 25 years, producing around 851,300 cases.
A decline of 10% in MMR vaccination rates would produce an estimated 11.1 million measles cases during 25 years, based on data presented in JAMA.
Since 2000, measles stopped establishing itself as an endemic pathogen, which continues to spread throughout the United States population.
Rising vaccination hesitancy
Rising avoidance of MMR vaccinations, together with other necessary childhood vaccinations, leads to an increase in outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases, as Reuters reported.
The U.S is at a tipping point for the return of endemic #measles a quarter century after the disease was eradicated in the country. Cemetaries show the headstones of dead babies prior to vaccines or too young to be vaccinated in the age of vaccines.https://t.co/ESzr0Z1ygh
— Ian Weissman, DO (@DrIanWeissman) April 25, 2025
The United States has reported 10 measles outbreaks with over 800 confirmed cases since the beginning of 2025, which resulted in two deaths, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Alarming rise in cases across US
New US measles cases between January 1 and April 17 numbered 805, which amounts to a 180% rise from the 285 cases recorded during all of 2024, according to CDC data in their weekly report.
The Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma outbreak cases developed among communities tied together by social connections because these communities exhibited below-average vaccination levels, according to the report.
A majority of 96% reported either unvaccinated status or unknown vaccination records during the outbreak period.
Nathan Lo from Stanford Medical School, who led the JAMA study, suggests that numerous state and national policies currently under debate aim to reduce childhood vaccination to an even greater extent.
As the experts suggest, the recent fall in vaccination among US children has been aggravated by the promotion of theories – contrary to scientific evidence, which includes childhood vaccines as a cause of autism and other health risks.