Measles cases continue to rise across the US

As of March 5,  CDC  has reported 1,281 confirmed cases of measles across the United States. Of these cases, 1,277 cases were among U.S. residents in 31 states, and four were among international visitors. So far this year, there have been 12 new measles outbreaks, and 89% of cases have been associated with outbreaks, though most originated from outbreaks that started last year. 

Most measles cases have occurred in people under the age of 20, with 54% occurring in children ages five to 19. Over 90% of measles cases have also been in people who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. So far, 62 measles cases, or 5% of all cases, have required hospitalization. No deaths related to measles have been reported, compared to three deaths the year before. 

South Carolina continues to have the largest number of measles cases at 662, followed by Utah with 184 and Florida with 109. 

"It is not a mild infection. It is not a mild virus. It is severe illness," said Leisha Nolen, Utah's state epidemiologist. She added that people sick with measles, as well as their caregivers, have said that the virus "is so much worse than what they expected."

"A number of them clearly said if they had known, they would have vaccinated themselves and their children against measles, but they didn't realize how bad it was," Nolen added. 

"Our analysis shows that highly contagious diseases like measles exploit even small gaps in immunity, leading to cascading infections and compounding costs for health systems, communities, and families," said Alison Galvani, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis at the Yale School of Public Health.

Health experts criticize federal response to measles outbreaks

As measles cases continue to increase across the country, health experts have criticized the federal government for its limited efforts to reduce the spread of the disease. Over the last year, CDC has posted limited communication about measles outbreaks even though the agency previously issued regular reports and alerts.  

"When you are at the highest level of measles cases in 30 years, we should be seeing lots more from our federal government," said Patsy Stinchfield, an NP and former president of the  National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. "And I think it's harming kids and causing an inordinate amount of work and expense that really doesn't belong in healthcare right now."

"What we've seen in the past year is just an erosion of all capacities due to broader funding cuts, not necessarily specifically targeting measles," said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the pandemic center at Brown University.  

Although Congress recently restored most of funding originally cut from federal health agencies through a new bipartisan budget, Alonzo Plough, chief of science at the  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said he is still concerned about what federal public health responses will be like going forward. 

"Yes, some money has been restored," Plough said, but "money being restored and money being [put] into the right areas are two different things."  

Since CDC's funding was restored, the Trump administration has attempted to cut spending on public health in other ways, including pulling back roughly $600 million in public health grants from California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. According to an HHS spokesperson, the grants were terminated because "they do not reflect agency priorities."