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The United States is grappling with its most severe measles outbreak in 35 years, as official figures reveal a significant surge in cases since the start of 2026. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 2,318 cases, exceeding the 2,289 recorded in the entirety of 2025, a year that had already set a grim record with three deaths.

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We are witnessing an avoidable crisis that disproportionally hurts children. We should not accept this as our new normal.

This resurgence marks a stark reversal from 2000, when measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. thanks to widespread vaccination. However, declining immunization rates and increasing distrust in health institutions have allowed the highly contagious disease to make a strong comeback. Experts like Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, describe the situation as an "avoidable crisis that disproportionally hurts children," urging that it should not be accepted as the "new normal."

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I definitely believe that there is underdiagnosis.

Contributing factors include a growing hesitancy towards vaccines, with a significant portion of parents expressing concerns about side effects and a lack of trust in health authorities. According to a September 2025 poll, one in six American parents delay or avoid vaccinating their children. This trend is particularly pronounced in white and conservative communities. Furthermore, the article points to figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. President's health secretary, being accused of spreading anti-vaccine sentiment and fueling fears about well-studied immunizations.

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When you think about the people who are choosing not to vaccinate their children, these are also the people that have medical hesitancy in general.

Melissa Nolan, a professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina, which has recorded the highest number of infections, believes there is likely underdiagnosis. She noted that individuals hesitant about vaccines often exhibit general medical hesitancy. While measles vaccination is mandatory in the U.S., non-medical exemptions based on religious or philosophical reasons are permissible and have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, coinciding with a rise in vaccine misinformation. Nolan warns that the current measles outbreak may be the first of many, predicting an increase in cases of pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Measles is the first one that you tend to see these large outbreaks, because it is the most easily contagious and easily spreadable.