Health and Me

Ishita Srivastava

US Doctors Name 2025 As The Worst Year For MMR Vaccination Rates As Measles Continues To Spread

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking parents across the country to ensure their children have received both doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine as cases continue to surge for the first time in three decades.

As of December 30, three people have died and 2,065 Americans have been found suffering from the life-threatening illness. Officials say this is the largest outbreak since 2,126 cases were last reported in 1992 and warn that the case count will continue to grow through January. 

While the initial outbreak was reported in a small religious community in Texas, the disease quickly spread throughout the country and is currently affecting children and teenagers in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the CDC. 

The federal agency also noted that out of the cases reported, 865 patients were between the ages of five to 19 while 650 were over the age of 20. Apart from this, 537 people were below the age of five while the ages of the remaining 13 were unknown.

Only three percent of the cases have received their first dose of the MMR vaccine while merely four percent completed both doses. It remains unclear whether 93 percent of people have received any doses of the vaccine.

Dr Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist, noted at a press briefing last week that one of the primary reasons for the rampant spread of the disease have been family gatherings during this holiday season and cross-country travel.

Measles: The World's Most Infectious Disease

Measles is a highly contagious illness that can cause widespread rashes and flu-like symptoms such as high fever, cough, red spots, bloodshot eyes, muscle pain and headaches. If left untreated, the disease can lead to life-threatening complications like brain inflammation and pneumonia. 

The virus is spread through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air that can linger in the air for up to two hours.  Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears.

Without immunity from a vaccine or prior infection, about 9 in 10 people exposed to measles will be infected. About one in five unvaccinated people are hospitalized and three in 1,000 people who contract the  disease are expected to die.

READ MORE: <a href="https://www.healthandme.com/health-news/us-measles-cases-surge-past-2000-putting-elimination-status-at-risk-article-153381514" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">US Measles Cases Surge Past 2,000, Putting Elimination Status At Risk</a>

Falling Vaccination Rates of Measles

Despite being deadly, the illness can be prevented through vaccination. The CDC says a single dose of the MMR vaccine is about 93 percent effective at preventing measles, while two doses increase protection to 97 percent.

However, immunization coverage has seen a stark decline in the last few years. While the nationwide MMR vaccination rate is 92.5 percent, merely 79.6 percent of of kindergartners were vaccinated for the 2023-2024 school year. 

Additionally,  only 84.3 percent of school children were vaccinated in Alaska while Hawaii, Ohio , Georgia, Oklahoma and Arizona saw a vaccination rate of about 89 percent, CDC data shows. 

According to a<a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2025/06/03/united-states-measles-vaccination-rate-declines/#:~:text=A%20new%20county%2Dlevel%20dataset%20from%20Johns%20Hopkins%20University%20researchers%20reveals%20a%20national%20decline%20in%20the%20measles%2Dmumps%2Drubella%2C%20or%20MMR%2C%20vaccination%20rate%20among%20U.S.%20children%20since%20the%20start%20of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer" rel= "noopener nofollow noreferrer" target= "_blank"> John Hopkins University study</a>, 2025 was noted to be the worst year for MMR immunization coverage as the nationwide average saw a decline of 2.67 percent of vaccination rates among US children since the 2020.

James Colgrove, a professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2025/measles-vaccine-schools-outbreaks-public-health/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer" rel= "noopener nofollow noreferrer" target= "_blank">The Washington Post</a>, "The most dangerous deadly diseases will come back and it won’t only be kids who suffer. It’ll be adults in the community who are immune-compromised, who are elderly. It’ll be infants."

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking parents across the country to ensure their children have received both doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine as cases continue to surge for the first time in three decades.As of December 30, three people have died and 2,065 Americans have been found suffering from the life-threatening illness. Officials say this is the largest outbreak since 2,126 cases were last reported in 1992 and warn that the case count will continue to grow through January. While the initial outbreak was reported in a small religious community in Texas, the disease quickly spread throughout the country and is currently affecting children and teenagers in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the CDC. The federal agency also noted that out of the cases reported, 865 patients were between the ages of five to 19 while 650 were over the age of 20. Apart from this, 537 people were below the age of five while the ages of the remaining 13 were unknown.Only three percent of the cases have received their first dose of the MMR vaccine while merely four percent completed both doses. It remains unclear whether 93 percent of people have received any doses of the vaccine. Dr Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist, noted at a press briefing last week that one of the primary reasons for the rampant spread of the disease have been family gatherings during this holiday season and cross-country travel.Measles: The World's Most Infectious DiseaseMeasles is a highly contagious illness that can cause widespread rashes and flu-like symptoms such as high fever, cough, red spots, bloodshot eyes, muscle pain and headaches. If left untreated, the disease can lead to life-threatening complications like brain inflammation and pneumonia. The virus is spread through direct contact with infectious droplets or through the air that can linger in the air for up to two hours.  Patients with a measles infection are contagious from four days before the rash through four days after the rash appears.Without immunity from a vaccine or prior infection, about 9 in 10 people exposed to measles will be infected. About one in five unvaccinated people are hospitalized and three in 1,000 people who contract the  disease are expected to die.READ MORE: US Measles Cases Surge Past 2,000, Putting Elimination Status At RiskFalling Vaccination Rates of MeaslesDespite being deadly, the illness can be prevented through vaccination. The CDC says a single dose of the MMR vaccine is about 93 percent effective at preventing measles, while two doses increase protection to 97 percent.However, immunization coverage has seen a stark decline in the last few years. While the nationwide MMR vaccination rate is 92.5 percent, merely 79.6 percent of of kindergartners were vaccinated for the 2023-2024 school year. Additionally,  only 84.3 percent of school children were vaccinated in Alaska while Hawaii, Ohio , Georgia, Oklahoma and Arizona saw a vaccination rate of about 89 percent, CDC data shows. According to a John Hopkins University study, 2025 was noted to be the worst year for MMR immunization coverage as the nationwide average saw a decline of 2.67 percent of vaccination rates among US children since the 2020.James Colgrove, a professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health told The Washington Post, "The most dangerous deadly diseases will come back and it won’t only be kids who suffer. It’ll be adults in the community who are immune-compromised, who are elderly. It’ll be infants."