Measles in US have already logged up to 982 cases in 2026, revealed the data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday. It is more than four times the number of cases as this time last year when a large outbreak was just beginning in West Texas. As of now, 26 states have reported measles cases so far. Large outbreaks continue to grow in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina. Measles In US: How Many Are Hospitalized?This is the largest measles outbreak US has seen in a generation. According to a South Carolina epidemiologist Dr Linda Bell, reported by NBC, at least 20 people have been hospitalized. These hospitalizations involve both adults and children. Additional cases required medical care for measles but were not hospitalized,” Bell said.As per the CDC data, 1 in 10 measles cases in 2025 resulted in hospitalization and most of them were children and teenager. Florida too is seeing a rise in cases. At the beginning of this year, the state's health department reported 92 cases since the beginning of the year. 66 of the cases were in Collier County and largely clustered at Ave Maria University, near Naples. Measles In US: Symptoms That StayWhile some people recover, some also stay with the symptoms way beyond the illness. Long term health problems develop even after the rash clears up. This is because the virus targets cells that play roles in a person's immune system and makes them vulnerable to subsequent illnesses. In some rare cases, people could develop dangerous brain inflammation seven to 10 years after a measles infection. This condition is called sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, is almost always fatal.Measles In US: Rarest Of Rare Case StudyDoctors at Children's Hospital of Orange County in California described a case in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was a 7-year-old boy who went to the hospital following several months of seizures and cognitive problems that had gotten worse. The boy had lived in Afghanistan in his infancy where he had gotten measles. Doctors said that when he arrived in the hospital he could not speak and his body's muscle reflexes were not working. These were signs of neurological problems and he was diagnosed with SPPE. Unfortunately, within a year of his first symptoms, he died. Measles In US: What Is It And What Are The Common Symptoms? Measles has a high transmissibility, and high measles immunity levels are required to prevent sustained measles virus transmission.This is why herd immunity for measles could be easily breached.It easily spreads from one infected person to another through breathes, coughs or sneezes and could cause severe disease, complications, and even death.Symptoms include:High feverCoughRunny NoseRash all over the bodyThe most unique symptom or the early sign of measles in the Koplik spots. These are tiny white dots that look like grains of salt on red gums inside the cheeks that appear before the red rash starts to appear on a person's face and then the body.Furthermore, the symptoms of measles are also characterized by the three Cs:CoughCoryza or runny noseConjunctivitis or red and water eyes