Name: Measles cases climb in U.S. after 2025 was worst year in decades
Uploaded: 2026-01-15T15:16:58.460Z
Duration: 3 min 23 s
Description: Measles cases are continuing to climb in the U.S. with the CDC reporting 171 new cases so far this year across nine states. Last year was the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1991. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder has more on what to know about the rising cases.

Measles cases are continuing to climb in the U.S. with the CDC reporting 171 new cases so far this year across nine states. Last year was the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1991. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder has more on what to know about the rising cases.

Measles cases in the United States have continued to climb, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting 171 new cases across nine states. South Carolina has seen a particularly rapid spread, adding 124 new cases in a short period and bringing the state's total to 434. This surge follows the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1991.

Health officials emphasize the importance of maintaining high vaccination rates, as measles is highly contagious and requires over 95% of children to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks. The country is now at risk of losing its measles elimination status, which could lead to changes in vaccination recommendations and increased risk of outbreaks. Medical experts continue to urge the public to get vaccinated against measles.

Measles cases climb in U.S. after 2025 was worst year in decades

In today's Health Watch, measles cases are continuing to climb in the U.S. The CDC reports 171 new cases so far this year across nine states. In South Carolina, measles is spreading rapidly. Health officials confirmed 124 new cases since last Friday, bringing the statewide total to 434. This comes after the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1991. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Selene Gounder is editor-at-large for Public Health at KFF Health News. Good morning. Good morning. All right. So from a public health standpoint, how serious is this? It ain't good. Measles is one of the most contagious infections known to man, which is why we need to have such high vaccination rates. Over 95% of kids need to be vaccinated to prevent an outbreak. So just to put this into context, if you compare it to influenza, measles is way more infectious than influenza. Influenza, one case, like if I have influenza, I might infect one or two other people. If I had the measles, I could infect 12 to 18 other people. So it's way more contagious. And what people don't realize is that initial infection with measles may not be that severe, but it wipes out the kid's immune system, immune memory, and it can take a couple years to build back. So it leaves the infant or the child susceptible to infections like pneumonia, diarrheal illness, and so on. So it's only half of the deaths related to measles. Several of the cases that we're hearing in South Carolina were with people that were fully vaccinated. How worried should we be about that? And do you think that it protects you from getting the severe disease of measles even when you're fully vaccinated? That was very scary to people. Yeah. So two dose of measles vaccine gets you to 97% vaccine effectiveness, but that means there's still that 3%. Yeah, yeah. Right. So there are some breakthrough cases. It's an extremely good vaccine. There was an outbreak in the Netherlands about a decade ago. And what we saw were people had a breakthrough infection, that tiny, rare percent. Those people still had a 90% lower risk of complications or risk of hospitalization if they had gotten the two doses. So you call it breakthrough as sort of an anomaly then if you're fully vaccinated and you still get it? Yeah. So what are the signs and symptoms of measles? All I remember as a kid, it's red bumps. Yeah. So it's that reddish rash. You can also have runny eyes, runny nose, cough. So any of those symptoms, but the rash is sort of the most typical symptom that helps us spot measles. So here's what's incredibly disturbing and remarkable. The U.S. is at risk of losing its measles elimination status. So what's the significance of that and what's at stake if this country loses that status? So elimination, it doesn't mean zero cases. It means that you don't have continuous transmission. So the cases you're getting are from importations from overseas, essentially. So if we have 12 months of transmission, continuous transmission in the U.S., we lose our elimination status. That means our risk of outbreaks is much, much higher. It means we may need to also have an extra dose of measles vaccine at the age of six months for infants. That's actually what you do in developing countries where they do have measles commonly. We may need to change our recommendations on that basis. And then travelers to the U.S. may need to approach the U.S. just like they do foreign travel elsewhere and get a booster dose of measles vaccine. Some of the recommendations have been confusing from health officials about getting vaccines or not. You're very clear. Get the vaccine. Get the vaccine. Yeah. All right.

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