A prolonged outbreak in Utah crossed the critical one-year threshold, prompting international health authorities to formally revoke the nation's elimination status. Over the last two years, the disease has infected more than 8,000 Americans and caused 13 deaths, including infants across multiple states. While childhood immunization rates have fallen since the pandemic began, scientists argue that recent federal funding cuts and vaccine misinformation worsened the crisis.
Key points
The United States has officially lost its measles elimination status 25 years after first…: The United States has officially lost its measles elimination status 25 years after first achieving the milestone.
Falling childhood vaccination rates leave populations vulnerable, even though a two-dose…: Falling childhood vaccination rates leave populations vulnerable, even though a two-dose regimen prevents 97% of infections.
Critics blame recent federal policy shifts for the resurgence, while administration spoke…: Critics blame recent federal policy shifts for the resurgence, while administration spokespeople maintain they are coordinating aid and distributing doses.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The U.S. has lost its status as a country where measles is eliminated, a public health triumph secured a quarter century ago.
Researchers with direct knowledge of the deliberations on the country's status told KFF Health News that the Pan American Health Organization reached the conclusion this week: Measles has reestablished regular transmission in the country.
PAHO had planned a public announcement on Nov. 17.
In public health parlance, measles elimination depends on a country's sporadic outbreaks ending within a year. That's no longer happening in the United States.
"It's a very sad moment," said Anne Schuchat, an epidemiologist and a former deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was not involved in PAHO's decision.
"Measles causes so much unnecessary suffering, everything from a high fever and missed work and school to long-term complications like progressive degenerative nerve disease and death," Schuchat said.
Measles outbreaks are entirely preventable: Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine prevent about 97% of infections, so when almost everyone in a community is fully vaccinated, the virus can't spread.
A mutated strain of the A H1N1 virus is accelerating autumn respiratory infections and driving mid-October hospitalizations to a 15-year high. Public health officials are urging immediate immunization as upcoming holiday travel threatens to worsen outbreaks in vulnerable communities. The current seasonal vaccine continues to offer crucial protection against the dominant circulating lineages.
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