Measles cases in the United States are rising sharply, driven by decreasing vaccination rates among children and growing parental scepticism, reigniting concerns about the disease’s potential to spread despite previous elimination efforts.
Measles cases in the United States have climbed sharply this year as childhood vaccine coverage continues to edge down, renewing concern that pockets of hesitancy are undermining long-standing protection against a disease that was declared eliminated in 2000. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 2,777 confirmed measles cases reported by 20 August 2026, with 94% linked to outbreaks.
That rise is unfolding alongside a steady slide in kindergarten immunisation rates. CDC data for the 2025-26 school year showed an overall drop of 0.1% in vaccination coverage among children entering school, leaving about 280,000 kindergartners without documented completion of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, series. Health experts say even small declines can matter because measles spreads quickly when enough children remain unprotected.
Epidemiologists say about 95% of people need the MMR vaccine to prevent sustained community transmission, yet only 10 states were at or above that level last school year. The CDC also said requests for non-medical exemptions have risen steadily since the 2020-21 school year, while overall MMR coverage has drifted lower. Robin Mejia, a biostatistics professor at the University of Washington, told WRAL that the national figure can obscure severe local drops in coverage that make outbreaks easier to sustain.
Research from KFF suggests that mistrust is part of the picture. Lunna Lopes, a senior survey manager at the health policy group, said parents who question whether vaccines are safe, effective or necessary are less likely to fully vaccinate their children, even after accounting for age, education and party affiliation. In a May 2026 KFF survey, parents who had delayed or skipped some vaccinations were about twice as likely as others to say certain vaccine falsehoods were probably or definitely true, reflecting what Lopes described as a sizeable middle ground of uncertainty rather than outright rejection.
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