US facing second measles surge this year as outbreak accelerates in South Carolina

Say it aint so · Dec 11, 2025

As multiple measles outbreaks simmer across the United States, cases are accumulating nearly as quickly as when the West Texas outbreak was at its peak this spring. There were 84 new measles cases reported in the past week nationwide, according to data posted Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more cases than have been reported in a single week since April, when there was an average of about 100 new cases per week. Texas hasn’t reported any new measles cases since state officials declared that the outbreak there was over in mid-August. Now, case counts are growing quickly in South Carolina, where state health officials say more than 250 people are in quarantine after possible exposure and 16 are in isolation because of illness. Some of them are in quarantine for a second time because they did not acquire additional protection — through vaccination or natural immunity from an infection — since the first exposure, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said at a briefing Wednesday.-CNN

What does one expect to happen when cocktail of antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists are in control?

FreeinChrist · Dec 11, 2025

I have a friend whose mother was exposed to measles in the first trimester and it was before measles vaccines were around. My friend was born deaf which was a not uncommon occurrence in those situations.
Measles also causes blindness and other genetic issues.

probinson · Dec 11, 2025

Say it aint so · Dec 11, 2025

probinson said:
View attachment 374370

Yes. In the 90s when and where a second dose was recommended.

ThatRobGuy · Dec 11, 2025

Say it aint so said:
What does one expect to happen when cocktail of antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists are in control?

Anti-vaxxers existed before the current administration.

1990–1991 Philadelphia measles outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Disneyland measles outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2019 New York measles outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2019 Pacific Northwest measles outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's not as if Philly, California, New York, and the Pacific Northwest were "conservative strongholds"

Hopefully people remember that prior to the whole Covid situation, a lot of the Anti-MMR sentiments were a "hippy"/"everything has to be natural from mother earth man!" sort of thing right?

If there's ever another pandemic, hopefully people will be wise enough not to "oversell" and "overpush" a brand new vaccine and make it a wedge issue and become so insufferable that they create new "spite anti-vaxxers" (people who were okay with the flu shot and MMR vaccine prior, but became anti-vaxx in a broader sense simply to oppose the people who were becoming rather annoying)

essentialsaltes · Dec 12, 2025

Say it aint so said:
What does one expect to happen when cocktail of antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists are in control?

Unfortunately, it's more of a cumulative effect of years of antivaxx propaganda. The current outbreak in SC is centered around school-age children, so it's not due to RFK Jr. suddenly convincing parents of newborns not to vaccinate this year. But a general weakening of the vaccination rate to around 90% in these SC counties, which is not quite at the threshold of herd immunity for measles (95%)

essentialsaltes · Dec 12, 2025

Say it aint so said:
Yes. In the 90s when and where a second dose was recommended.

And before measles was declared 'eliminated' in the US circa 2000, because of our vaccination efforts.

Welcome back, measles!

essentialsaltes · Jan 2, 2026

A good chance for a quick start to 2026.

Although I don't think there's much of a theological link, there does appear to be a correlation between creationist views and vaccine hesitancy, so the Venn diagram of Ark Encounter visitors and the unvaccinated may have significant overlap. See also.

Say it aint so · Jan 2, 2026

essentialsaltes said:
A good chance for a quick start to 2026.

Although I don't think there's much of a theological link, there does appear to be a correlation between creationist views and vaccine hesitancy, so the Venn diagram of Ark Encounter visitors and the unvaccinated may have significant overlap. See also.

View attachment 374874

Hans Blaster · Jan 2, 2026

essentialsaltes said:
A good chance for a quick start to 2026.

Although I don't think there's much of a theological link, there does appear to be a correlation between creationist views and vaccine hesitancy, so the Venn diagram of Ark Encounter visitors and the unvaccinated may have significant overlap. See also.

View attachment 374874

The ark encounter was always fated to cause death and disease.

loveofourlord · Jan 2, 2026

most dangerous thing about measels is it erases your immune system wich can be devestating.

ThatRobGuy · Jan 3, 2026

essentialsaltes said:
And before measles was declared 'eliminated' in the US circa 2000, because of our vaccination efforts.

Welcome back, measles!

The challenge with that is that unless we're going to build a big bubble around the US where nobody gets in or out, actually eliminating it forever isn't going to happen.

Even in the year it was declared "eliminated" they were jumping the gun, because more cases ended up getting imported later that year.

Several cases were imported from Japan, into NY and California.

And then in the 2019 surge, there were 44 imported cases, 34 of which were US travelers who went to places with elevated circulation, and then brought it back home (which then turned into over 700 cases, 20% of whom were actually vaccinated)

With a virus that is R=18, it would be extremely difficult to eliminate it in a world where international travel is a thing.

Even Canada (with a much lower population density than we have) hasn't managed to eliminate it for the long haul.

They just lost their "elimination status" quite recently

Canada loses measles elimination status amid year-long outbreak: Health officials

Canada has lost its measles elimination status after struggling to contain a year-long outbreak, the country’s public health agency announced on Monday.

abcnews.go.com

Hans Blaster · Jan 3, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
The challenge with that is that unless we're going to build a big bubble around the US where nobody gets in or out, actually eliminating it forever isn't going to happen.

Even in the year it was declared "eliminated" they were jumping the gun, because more cases ended up getting imported later that year.

That's because "elimination status" is about endemic internal transmission. The US had that, but if this keeps up (US cases spawning more cases) that will be gone.

ThatRobGuy said:
Several cases were imported from Japan, into NY and California.

And then in the 2019 surge, there were 44 imported cases, 34 of which were US travelers who went to places with elevated circulation, and then brought it back home (which then turned into over 700 cases, 20% of whom were actually vaccinated)

That is the goal. Rapid suppression of imported cases preventing an endemic, sustained transmission, eliminating native origin.

ThatRobGuy said:
With a virus that is R=18, it would be extremely difficult to eliminate it in a world where international travel is a thing.

Even Canada (with a much lower population density than we have) hasn't managed to eliminate it for the long haul.

They just lost their "elimination status" quite recently

Canada loses measles elimination status amid year-long outbreak: Health officials

Canada has lost its measles elimination status after struggling to contain a year-long outbreak, the country’s public health agency announced on Monday.

abcnews.go.com

It's tough, but extensive vaccination coverage is the tool. The more places where "elimination" is achieved, the fewer sources for imported cases there are.

ThatRobGuy · Jan 4, 2026

Hans Blaster said:
It's tough, but extensive vaccination coverage is the tool. The more places where "elimination" is achieved, the fewer sources for imported cases there are.

We can try to promote that domestically, but where it becomes tricky is unless there's some sort of global strategy, a virus that contagious is always going to break through with international travel.

As noted, that big outbreak that occurred from importation. 20% of the people ultimately impacted were vaccinated.

What makes and even bigger challenge is that with regards to travel.

Many of the people who want to come here are from places where coverage is a lot lower (with Mexico being the exception, the rest of central and South America has pretty poor coverage), and the places where Americans would likely want to travel (Europe), has coverage rates that are a bit lacking as well.

Childhood Mandatory Vaccinations: Current Situation in European Countries and Changes Occurred from 2014 to 2024 - PMC

Background/Objectives: Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions, preventing millions of deaths globally each year. However, vaccine hesitancy, driven by misinformation and reduced disease risk perception, has led to ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As of 2024, 13 countries had at least one mandatory pediatric vaccination, with France, Hungary, and Latvia requiring all but one vaccine. In contrast, 17 countries had no mandatory vaccinations, relying only on recommendations.

loveofourlord · Jan 4, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
We can try to promote that domestically, but where it becomes tricky is unless there's some sort of global strategy, a virus that contagious is always going to break through with international travel.

As noted, that big outbreak that occurred from importation. 20% of the people ultimately impacted were vaccinated.

View attachment 374939

What makes and even bigger challenge is that with regards to travel.

Many of the people who want to come here are from places where coverage is a lot lower (with Mexico being the exception, the rest of central and South America has pretty poor coverage), and the places where Americans would likely want to travel (Europe), has coverage rates that are a bit lacking as well.

Childhood Mandatory Vaccinations: Current Situation in European Countries and Changes Occurred from 2014 to 2024 - PMC

Background/Objectives: Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions, preventing millions of deaths globally each year. However, vaccine hesitancy, driven by misinformation and reduced disease risk perception, has led to ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As of 2024, 13 countries had at least one mandatory pediatric vaccination, with France, Hungary, and Latvia requiring all but one vaccine. In contrast, 17 countries had no mandatory vaccinations, relying only on recommendations.

View attachment 374940

and that just proves why vaccination in our countries is important, herd immunity prevents it from spreading much, notice how many/all of the outbreaks in the US can be traced to unvaccinated being a large group of them. measel vaccine is highly sucessful, it's not perfect, but if everyone has the vaccine around a person that caught measels, the chances of anyone else catching it drops, chances of 2 people drops even more, you have an unvaccinated group in there, and the odds increase, along with chances of unvaccinated catching it.

Hans Blaster · Jan 4, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
We can try to promote that domestically, but where it becomes tricky is unless there's some sort of global strategy, a virus that contagious is always going to break through with international travel.

Gee, wonder if we ever tried that before. Fully eradicating a viral disease across the globe. Hmm. You should look into that.

ThatRobGuy said:
As noted, that big outbreak that occurred from importation. 20% of the people ultimately impacted were vaccinated.

View attachment 374939

Do we have go go back over how vaccinations work in populations? Again? You should look into that too so you stop asking inane questions.

ThatRobGuy said:
What makes and even bigger challenge is that with regards to travel.

Many of the people who want to come here are from places where coverage is a lot lower (with Mexico being the exception, the rest of central and South America has pretty poor coverage), and the places where Americans would likely want to travel (Europe), has coverage rates that are a bit lacking as well.

Childhood Mandatory Vaccinations: Current Situation in European Countries and Changes Occurred from 2014 to 2024 - PMC

Background/Objectives: Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions, preventing millions of deaths globally each year. However, vaccine hesitancy, driven by misinformation and reduced disease risk perception, has led to ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As of 2024, 13 countries had at least one mandatory pediatric vaccination, with France, Hungary, and Latvia requiring all but one vaccine. In contrast, 17 countries had no mandatory vaccinations, relying only on recommendations.

View attachment 374940

Stopped_lurking · Jan 4, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
We can try to promote that domestically, but where it becomes tricky is unless there's some sort of global strategy, a virus that contagious is always going to break through with international travel.

As noted, that big outbreak that occurred from importation. 20% of the people ultimately impacted were vaccinated.

View attachment 374939

What makes and even bigger challenge is that with regards to travel.

Many of the people who want to come here are from places where coverage is a lot lower (with Mexico being the exception, the rest of central and South America has pretty poor coverage), and the places where Americans would likely want to travel (Europe), has coverage rates that are a bit lacking as well.

Childhood Mandatory Vaccinations: Current Situation in European Countries and Changes Occurred from 2014 to 2024 - PMC

Background/Objectives: Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions, preventing millions of deaths globally each year. However, vaccine hesitancy, driven by misinformation and reduced disease risk perception, has led to ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As of 2024, 13 countries had at least one mandatory pediatric vaccination, with France, Hungary, and Latvia requiring all but one vaccine. In contrast, 17 countries had no mandatory vaccinations, relying only on recommendations.

View attachment 374940

For Europe as a whole the measles vaccination coverage of 1-year olds is 94% and in the United states it is 92%, what is the problem?

Source: Childhood vaccination coverage - by vaccine

ThatRobGuy · Jan 4, 2026

Stopped_lurking said:
For Europe as a whole the measles vaccination coverage of 1-year olds is 94% and in the United states it is 92%, what is the problem?

Source: Childhood vaccination coverage - by vaccine

"Europe as a Whole" is misleading, because the country with the highest population, Russia, actually has really good coverage (it's one of the few things they do well, they have immunization coverage of 97%... that goes up to nearly 99% for people currently under age 18)

In the EU region, vaccination coverage is 93.9% for the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) and 88.8% for the second dose (MCV2)

...and obviously that's an average overall. You have some countries like Ireland that has first-dose coverage in the 80's. And then you have several of the other countries where the major gap seems to be getting the second dose. Many of the EU countries seem to fall short of the 95% threshold for herd immunity with that second dose.

ThatRobGuy · Jan 4, 2026

loveofourlord said:
and that just proves why vaccination in our countries is important, herd immunity prevents it from spreading much, notice how many/all of the outbreaks in the US can be traced to unvaccinated being a large group of them. measel vaccine is highly sucessful, it's not perfect, but if everyone has the vaccine around a person that caught measels, the chances of anyone else catching it drops, chances of 2 people drops even more, you have an unvaccinated group in there, and the odds increase, along with chances of unvaccinated catching it.

Hans Blaster said:
Do we have go go back over how vaccinations work in populations? Again? You should look into that too so you stop asking inane questions.

Oh I'm not disagreeing with the premise. I understand how herd immunity works and the concept.

I was saying that unless we're willing to foist MMR requirements on every other developed nation with whom we have a lot of reciprocal travel, I don't see a path toward full elimination.

Hans Blaster · Jan 4, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
Oh I'm not disagreeing with the premise. I understand how herd immunity works and the concept.

I was saying that unless we're willing to foist MMR requirements on every other developed nation with whom we have a lot of reciprocal travel, I don't see a path toward full elimination.

Then why are you making excuses or arguments for it being "OK" if we roll back things and have our own native endemic sources?

We hope the site problems here are now solved, however, if you still have any issues, please start a ticket in Contact Us

US facing second measles surge this year as outbreak accelerates in South Carolina

Well-Known Member

CF Advisory team

Legend

Well-Known Member

Part of the IT crowd

Fact-Based Lifeform

Fact-Based Lifeform

Fact-Based Lifeform

Well-Known Member

Area Meathead

Newbie

Part of the IT crowd

Area Meathead

Part of the IT crowd

Newbie

Area Meathead

Well-Known Member

Part of the IT crowd

Part of the IT crowd

Area Meathead

Similar threads