{"id":141207,"date":"2025-03-25T23:55:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T03:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141207"},"modified":"2025-03-26T00:03:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:03:52","slug":"understanding-the-resurgence-of-measles-what-you-need-to-know-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141207","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Resurgence of Measles: What You Need to Know in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Capital Blue Cross\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Colli said difficult conversations about childhood vaccines are becoming easier. With cases of measles rising nationwide, he has more parents\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the numbers are low, those conversations are harder because you\u2019re trying to protect against this mystery virus,\u201d said Dr. Colli, a pediatrician from Keystone Health in Chambersburg, Pa. \u201cOnce (the numbers) start going up, it becomes easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once considered\u00a0eliminated in North America<\/a>, measles has returned in a big way. Outbreaks in\u00a0Texas<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0New Jersey<\/a>\u00a0in early 2025 highlight the dangers of this highly contagious virus, especially to children.<\/p>\n

Measles cases in 2024 were five times higher<\/a>\u00a0than in 2023 (288 compared to 58), according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly three-quarters of those cases were patients 19 years or younger.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the\u00a0outbreak in West Texas<\/a>\u00a0alone has produced 146 cases as of March 1.<\/p>\n

1. How serious is measles?<\/h3>\n

Measles can cause\u00a0serious and lasting health effects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasles is not just a rash,\u201d said Dr. Jeremy Wigginton, Chief Medical Officer at Capital Blue Cross. \u201cIt can have very serious complications, including ear infections that lead to permanent hearing loss, pneumonia, and encephalitis (swelling of the brain).\u201d<\/p>\n

In the February 2025 outbreak in West Texas,\u00a0one child died<\/a>\u00a0and some patients had serious enough respiratory issues that they needed an oxygen tube to breathe.<\/p>\n

2. How contagious is measles?<\/h3>\n

When more people develop immunity to a virus \u2013 usually through vaccines \u2013 it becomes more difficult to spread.<\/p>\n

But achieving herd immunity is\u00a0different for every virus<\/a>\u00a0and depends on how contagious it is. Measles, for example, spreads so easily that an estimated 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasles is one of the most contagious viruses,\u201d Dr. Colli said, adding that only two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine can provide lifelong protection for most people.<\/p>\n

3. Why is measles making a resurgence?<\/h3>\n

After being eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, measles returned due to\u00a0unvaccinated international travelers<\/a>, according to the\u00a0CDC. Health experts point to\u00a0declining vaccination rates<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. as another reason for the increase in cases. In most states, children are required to get the MMR vaccine before entering kindergarten. But kindergarten classes in 37 states have vaccination rates below the 95% needed for herd immunity, according to CDC data.<\/p>\n

One of those states is Pennsylvania, which had vaccinated 95% of its incoming kindergarteners from 2017-2022 until dropping below that mark for the 2022-2023 school year.<\/p>\n

Of the 2024 measles cases, the CDC\u00a0said 89% were unvaccinated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. What if I can\u2019t remember getting vaccinated for measles as a kid?<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re an adult of a certain age, you may not remember getting an MMR vaccine as a child. It\u2019s also possible that you don\u2019t have access to your medical records from decades ago.<\/p>\n

What are ways to find this information?<\/p>\n

Dr. Wigginton said to start by asking your primary care physician or family members for vaccine records.<\/p>\n

Another place to look is your state\u2019s department of health. While there is no national database that collects information on vaccines, states and some major cities have\u00a0vaccine registries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A third option would be to get a blood test to see whether you have antibodies against certain viral infections. If you\u2019re still unsure but want protection, it is OK to get another dose of the MMR vaccine, Dr. Wigginton said.<\/p>\n

The real risk lies in not having protection through a vaccine,\u201d Dr. Wigginton said. \u201cIt leaves yourself, your family, and others in your community vulnerable to these highly contagious and potentially life-threatening illnesses.<\/p>\n

Vaccine Insurance Coverage<\/h3>\n

Because it is a preventive measure, the MMR vaccine is covered by most health plans offered by Capital Blue Cross if you meet criteria set by the CDC, said Michael Ballow, a clinical pharmacist at Capital Blue Cross.<\/p>\n

The information provided is meant for a general audience. Capital Blue Cross and its affiliated companies believe this health education resource provides useful information but does not assume any liability associated with its use.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Capital Blue Cross\u00a0 Dr. Michael Colli said difficult conversations about childhood vaccines are becoming easier. With cases of measles rising nationwide, he has more parents\u2019 attention. \u201cWhen the numbers … Continue reading Understanding the Resurgence of Measles: What You Need to Know in 2025<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/capital-blue.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141207"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/112634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}