Measles Cases Have Doubled From Last Year. Is the Spread Slowing?

Measles cases in the United States have reached four thousand five hundred eighty-eight this year. That is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is roughly double the total for all of last year.

Last year’s total was about twenty-three hundred cases. So far this year, forty-three separate outbreaks have been reported. Ninety-six percent of cases are linked to those outbreaks.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses there is. It spreads through the air, and it can linger in a room after an infected person has left.

Ninety-six percent of this year’s patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Children under twenty make up about fifty-eight percent of cases.

The pace is slowing, though. The CDC added one hundred seventy-eight cases in its latest weekly update. That is about half the jump from the week before, when three hundred thirty cases were added.

Here is the strongest case on the other side. Some parents argue that vaccine decisions belong to families, and that their questions about side effects deserve straight answers. Health officials respond that the measles vaccine has a long safety record, and that unvaccinated children also put their neighbors at risk.

Reports say a review in November will look at whether the United States keeps its measles elimination status. Elimination means no continuous spread for twelve months or more.

So is the outbreak slowing, or just catching its breath? Four thousand five hundred cases is the headline. The weekly number is the story. Watch that number.