Jan. 30, 2024 – Some may find it comforting to believe that major measles outbreaks are a thing of the past or only impact people in distant locations, such as in Europe, where 42,200 cases were reported last year. However, experts warn that growing complacency here in the United States could have serious consequences.
Although measles was declared officially eradicated here in 2000, isolated outbreaks persist. Most notably, outbreaks have occurred in New York City in 2019, central Ohio just 2 years ago, and Philadelphia starting this past December.
In early January, travelers passing through two Washington, DC-area airports were warned of possible measles exposure, underscoring the ease with which an infected person can spread the disease to others who are not vaccinated.
The recent increase in measles cases prompted the CDC to issue a nationwide measles alert last week.
COVID Lowered Measles Vaccinations
Measles remains a significant concern, according to Gregory A. Poland, MD, founder and director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, MN, and editor-in-chief of the journal Vaccine. He described measles as the “canary in the coal mine” for vaccine-preventable disease.
Measles is so contagious that a person entering an emergency room 12 hours after someone with measles could contract the infection if they are not immunized.
“If SARS-CoV-2 were that transmissible, we’d have millions of more deaths in the U.S. by now,” Poland said.
The pandemic led to significant delays in measles vaccinations, with data from the World Health Organization showing that almost 40 million children worldwide missed a measles vaccine dose in the months leading up to November 2022. A historic high of 25 million children skipped their first dose, and an additional 14.7 million missed their second, according to a March 2023 report in the Annals of Medicine and Surgery (London).
COVID also led to a significant delay in measles vaccinations in the United States, with more than 61 million doses of the MMR vaccine, which contains the measles vaccine, being delayed or missed entirely from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic, the CDC said.
At least 8,500 schools nationwide are at risk of a measles outbreak, with vaccination rates for kindergartners below the 95% threshold recommended by the CDC for herd immunity.
“Even though we give infants two doses, which can be up to 97% effective, there are still people who remain vulnerable,” said Adam Ratner, MD, director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone in New York City.