A leading immunologist, Dr Paul Offit, has warned of a “post-herd-immunity world” as measles outbreaks affect communities with low vaccination rates in the American south-west, Mexico, and Canada. The US is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in 25 years, centered in west Texas, which has killed two unvaccinated children and one adult.
The US eliminated measles in 2000, but if the country experiences sustained transmission of the virus for 12 months, its elimination status would be lost. As of May 1, there were 935 confirmed measles cases across 30 jurisdictions, with nearly one in three children under five years old involved in the outbreak hospitalized.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that has spread to neighboring states, including New Mexico and Oklahoma. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the risk of measles is high in the Americas and has increased 11-fold compared to 2024.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) also reported a significant increase in measles cases across Europe, with 35,212 cases in 2024, mostly reported in Romania. Experts attribute the recent spike in measles cases to declining vaccine rates.
Measles vaccination is widely recognized as the most effective way to prevent the disease, which has saved over 93 million lives worldwide between 1974 and 2024. However, anti-vaccine activists, including US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, have been spreading misleading claims about vaccines and undermining public confidence in their benefits.
Kennedy’s views on vaccination have been widely criticized by experts, who argue that his promotion of unproven treatments for measles is misleading and dangerous. The WHO and other leading health organizations emphasize the importance of vaccination in preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/03/measles-post-herd-immunity