2025 Measles Cases In America Surpass The 2,000 Mark
from the failure dept
This administration is in the midst of failing the American people in so many ways, of course, but if you need one stark example of that failure then you can find it in measles. When I wrote this post way back in March of this year, it was our first Techdirt post done on the disease in over 11 years. In other words, this is how it started:
And from there we were off and running. It took roughly a month for us and many others to begin warning what would be inevitable if RFK Jr. wasn’t axed from his role as Secretary of Health and Human Services. A virulent anti-vaxxer leading the charge on a measles outbreak was always going to result in a lackluster response at best, but the real embarrassment would come in the form of America losing its measles elimination status. That status was hard won in 2000 via a concentrated and government led vaccination campaign beginning in the late 70s and early 80s. 12 months of continuous spread from connected outbreaks loses us elimination status and we began predicting this would happen eight months ago.
So that’s how it started. How are we looking at present? We now sit at 2,012 confirmed cases of measles in America for 2025. And those numbers are both incomplete for the year and almost certainly significantly underreported. Add to that the fact that we are enduring current outbreaks in multiple states and we are set up for a banger of a 2026.
Measles cases nationwide have reached 2,012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week, as outbreaks in Arizona and South Carolina continue to grow and three other states alert the public about airport exposures.
The US total reflects 54 new cases, as the country teeters on the brink of losing its measles elimination status—which it earned in 2000—next month. This year’s total is the nation’s highest since 1992, when officials reported 2,200 cases. Coordinated vaccination efforts led to a precipitous drop in cases in the ensuing decades, but vaccine skepticism in recent years has spawned the disease’s resurgence.
In those numbers are 3 deaths, including two children, and 227 hospitalizations. More frightening is that, while 93% of infections have occurred among the unvaccinated, 7% have not, including 4% that had two MMR vaccine doses. That sure sounds like we’re experiencing an increase of breakthrough infections, which itself is an indication that we are losing herd immunity protections.
So it’s not really a question of if we’re going to lose the measles elimination status. The game is already over, we’re just waiting for the clock to run out. The real question is whether that embarrassment is going to spur anyone in positions of power to do anything about it. And the only real thing to do here is get RFK Jr. the hell out of his cabinet secretary role.
Filed Under: epidemic, health and human services, measles, rfk jr.
Comments on “2025 Measles Cases In America Surpass The 2,000 Mark”
Yeah, it has nothing to do with ignorance…
Even if you want to blame malnutrition
being the party that kills off SNAP isn’t going to help. At some point of time, you need to take responsibility. It is a bad look if you don’t even attempt to look like you believe your own bullshit.
Vaccinations
I wonder when the rest of the world will start requiring proof of vaccination from all Americans. Before vaccinations became commonplace for several diseases, we all had to carry vaccination certificates when travelling abroad.
Re: Old News
When my kids were little, we always had to bring their vaccination records on international travel and were often forced to show them.
Before COVID, there was a measles outbreak and a family on vacation in Hawaii was forced to quarantine in their airbnb because, although they claimed to have been vaccinated, they couldn’t provide documentation.
Because of all this I went and got an MMR booster just so I would have something in writing that showed I had been vaccinated. This was my fourth measles vaccine.
Re:
Dems wanted it at home for covid…but not for voter id…strange that…
Re: Re:
In one case, Democrats want to prevent unnecessary harm caused by evil.
In the other, Democrats want to prevent unnecessary harm caused by evil.
What’s broken inside you that you project that to be “strange?”
Malnutrition
A country as rich as the USA does have the funds to ensure that each kid is properly fed and housed. Does JFK imply a collective failure of the country or government in that respect?
The orange nutjob opened the health department door and in stormed Kennedy Jr, a rabid, raving and, frankly, dangerous fanatic to destroy the health and well-being of ‘merica. Well done Dipshit Donnie!
RFK Jr. is right
Bobby Brainworm is correct. Measles are, indeed, caused by malnutrition. Each victim has been found to have a deficiency of Vitamin MMR Vaccine.
He’s head of HHS. He should do something about that.
A bookkeeping error when I was an infant meant I didn’t get the Measles vaccine, and I almost died of it as a result. My immune system never fully recovered. My parents told me the harrowing story of the experience. More parents need to listen to, and act on such stories rather than have to experience it themselves. And there’s a societal responsibility to make sure they do.
Spontaneous Generation Theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation
The dead are notoriously immune to getting sick
Turns out that the slogan ‘Make America Healthy Again’ left out the second half, ‘… By Killing A Bunch Of People Until The Sick/Healthy Ratio Is Better.’ Given how much of a mouthful the whole thing is though I can understand why they’d cut it off after just the first four words though.
Re:
You are correct! And anybody who loves their child would kill it before it left the womb. That’s the easiest way to protect a child from the inherent risks of being alive.