The US has surpassed 1,100 measles cases in two months. Expect more deaths next
Source: CNN Health
PUBLISHED Feb 27, 2026, 10:17 AM ET
The US has recorded more than 1,100 measles cases so far this year, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a troubling milestone that has many in public health bracing for the worst.
According to the CDC, out of every 1,000 children who are infected with measles, one may develop encephalitis, which is a dangerous swelling of the brain. Up to 3 out of every 1,000 infected children will die.
The US is on track for another record-breaking year for measles: The number of measles cases reported in the first eight weeks of the year — 1,136 as of February 26, according to CDC data — is already six times more than typical for an entire year. A tracker from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation has tallied an even higher the annual case total than the CDC.
The current US trajectory for measles cases is “disappointing and depressing and ominous,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center — especially because there is a safe and highly effective vaccine available to protect against measles infection and its complications.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/27/health/measles-thousand-cases-deaths
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Since I grew up in the 1950s and early 60s - the height of the Baby Boom era - childhood diseases were a regular thing. Every schoolroom and neighborhood playground was crowded with kids. At the time it seemed we were all sharing germs with every other kid in the neighborhood. If anyone got chickenpox, we all got it eventually, and it was the same with measles.
But the big danger with measles was the high fever that accompanied the rashes and the itchy spots. My little brother must have been a toddler when one of the older sibs brought home the measles. His temperature spiked up to 104 degrees and Mom was terrified. The doctor told her over the phone to put my brother into a cold water bath and try to bring his temperature down. Bro wasn't happy about it, screamed the entire time, but that cold water bath worked. It brought his temperature back down after 15 minutes or so.
When the measles, mumps and chickenpox vaccines came out in the mid-60s, my Mom made sure we all got them.
Our "community medical knowledge network" has improved greatly since the 1950's. Neighborhoods used to be stable but now there are a lot of families moving in and out.
When I was a kid we didn't even know about the danger to pregnant women being exposed to measles. (It turns out that fetal exposure to measles is a big cause of birth defects, etc.) It seemed like so many young mothers were pregnant in those days, including my own Mom who eventually had 9 kids.
