By
- Dallas Gagnon | MassLive.com
The U.S. has confirmed 2,318 cases so far this year, already blowing past the 2,289 logged for all of 2025 and there are still five more months to go
As of July 24 measles has confirmed cases in 45 states and jurisdictions — plus D.C. — with 16 more among international visitors, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows
Kids and teens are bearing the brunt
About 7 in 10 measles cases are in people under 20, and nearly half of all cases are kids aged 5 to 19 — a bigger share than last year
Toddlers under 5 make up a smaller slice though — accounting for 20% of all cases compared to 26% in 2025
Measles outbreaks
The surge isn’t random — it stems from a series of outbreaks
The CDC has tracked 35 new outbreaks this year. An outbreak is considered a cluster of three or more cases in a given community
In 2026, a staggering 93% of all cases trace back to a single outbreak
Patients who were unvaccinated accounted for 93% of the cases — matching last year’s trend
The one bright spot
Fewer patients infected with measles are ending up hospitalized this year compared with previous years
In 2026, 7% of people with the virus — 151 people — were hospitalized
That’s down from 11% last year. The drop was steepest among kids under 5, whose hospitalization rate nearly halved from 18% to 10%
As of July 2026, there have been zero measles deaths in the U.S. versus three in 2025
Why is this happening?
CDC data points to a drop in vaccination rates alongside the hike in measles cases
Kindergarten MMR coverage has dropped from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.5% today — below the 95% level needed for herd immunity
That gap adds up to roughly 286,000 kindergartners without full protection last school year
Measles state-by-state data
CDC has real-time dashboards running in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Utah and Virginia, plus parent-friendly guidance on spotting symptoms early
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