Almost as many measles cases have been detected this year as in all of 2023, data shows.
Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 41 cases were diagnosed in January and February, compared to 58 in all of 2023. At this time last year, only three cases had been recorded.
Sixteen states have confirmed outbreaks so far, with Florida, linked to elementary schools, being the largest with ten cases.
The outbreaks have been attributed to falling measles vaccination rates for the third year in a row.
The goal is 95 percent, but last year it fell to 93.1 percent, meaning hundreds of thousands of kindergarteners were not protected from the disease as they headed to schools.
The map above shows the states that have detected measles cases so far this year.
Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, before causing a rash made up of small red dots, some of which may feel slightly raised. According to the NHS, it usually starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading further.
Measles infections can be easily prevented with the two-dose MMR vaccine, which is more than 97 percent effective against infections with the disease.
The disease is one of the most infectious known to man and is transmitted through airborne droplets or contaminated surfaces, and nine out of ten unvaccinated people exposed to the disease develop an infection.
Initially, patients suffer symptoms including a runny nose and red, swollen eyes that are sensitive to light, but this can progress to a bad cough and a rash that extends from the face to the feet and is made up of flat red spots.
The CDC says about one in five people infected with measles is hospitalized, while up to three in every 1,000 patients die from the disease. One in a thousand also develops inflammation in the brain.
Michigan was the latest state to record measles cases this year, after confirming infections in two adults who had recently traveled abroad.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo drew criticism early last month after suggesting that children who were exposed to measles in the state’s outbreak did not need to isolate at home.
Dr. Robert Speth, a medical expert at Nova Southeastern University in South Florida, said The Guardian: ‘His statements are more political than medical and that is a disservice to the citizens of Florida.’
“He’s someone whose job it is to protect public health and he’s doing exactly the opposite.”
The graph above shows the number of reported measles cases per year. About 100 cases are reported in the US each year.
The above shows the number of measles cases reported per week, revealing an increase in recent weeks.
The other states reporting cases are: Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.
Six of these states (Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan and Minnesota) did not report a single case of measles last year.
It is unclear what proportion of the cases are related to international travel and how many patients have been infected in the United States.
Experts say measles comes to the United States from foreign countries where vaccine coverage is limited, including Yemen, India and Russia.
Patients can then unknowingly spread it in their local areas before realizing they are infected.
Earlier this year, a child at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was reported to have become infected after he was placed in a bed next to a child who had measles before his condition was diagnosed.
Before the Covid pandemic, the United States recorded about a hundred cases of measles each year, mostly related to international travel.
The largest outbreak occurred in 2019, when more than 1,274 cases were recorded, which was partly due to parents holding “measles parties” in which they exposed unvaccinated children to the disease to gain immunity.
Cases have remained low since then, with the highest number recorded in 2022, when the United States recorded 121 cases of measles.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, but has continued to appear in the country since then.