"Here's something you never really want to see, on a line graph charting the spread of an incredibly infectious disease: A vertical line. And yet, how else to describe what measles has been doing in the United States through the first month of 2026? This is the kind of chart that crypto-bros fantasize about, except instead of depicting to-the-moon gainz on memecoins, it's mostly depicting American children who are dangerously ill,"
"The commenter on that chart actually understates it: The total of nearly 600 confirmed measles cases so far from the Centers for Disease Control isn't just more than the whole of 2023 and 2024 combined-it's more than the entirety of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 combined. That's more measles cases in one month, than we had in 60 months between 2020-2024."
Measles cases in the United States surged dramatically in January 2026, producing nearly 600 confirmed cases in one month. January totals exceed the cumulative case counts from 2020 through 2024 combined. Cases have appeared in at least 17 states, with the largest driver a severe outbreak centered in northwestern Spartanburg County, South Carolina, where MMR vaccination rates are low. The Spartanburg outbreak began in late 2025 and has grown to hundreds of cases, surpassing prior large outbreaks from early 2025. The resurgence has caused pediatric deaths and poses heightened transmission risk and threats to elimination status.
Read at Jezebel
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