The United States recorded its worst measles epidemic in 35 years in 2026, according to an official count on Friday, July 24, as the serious and contagious disease has been making a powerful comeback for more than a year, against a backdrop of growing distrust of vaccines.
In just seven months, 2,318 confirmed cases have been recorded. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that is more than in 2025, a year which had already broken records with 2,289 cases and three deaths, including two young children.
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Declining vaccination rates and distrust of health authorities
It is " an avoidable crisis that disproportionately affects children" Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), noted in a statement.
“ We should not accept that this becomes our new normal.“.
Measles causes fever, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes, and in some cases more serious complications, such as pneumonia and inflammation of the brain which can lead to serious after-effects or even death.
In 2000, this highly contagious disease was considered eradicated from the United States thanks to vaccination. But it has made a strong comeback in recent years, against a backdrop of declining vaccination rates and growing distrust of health authorities.
A crisis to which Donald Trump's Secretary of Health, the vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr., is accused of having contributed by fueling fears about the vaccine for years.
Before the development of the latter in the early 1960s, measles killed hundreds of children each year in the United States, and continues to kill tens of thousands of people worldwide.
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Vaccination exemptions for religious or philosophical reasons
The United States had not experienced a measles epidemic of this magnitude since 1991.
The current outbreak, which began in 2025, has still not been contained and experts expect to see the number of cases climb even further.
Melissa Nolan, a lecturer in epidemiology at the University of South Carolina, the US state with the highest number of infections this year, also says she convinced that there is under-diagnosis » cases.
“ When we think about people who choose not to vaccinate their children, they are also those who show a reluctance towards doctors in general." she noted to AFP.
Although the measles vaccine is mandatory in the United States, Americans can circumvent the rule by invoking religious or even sometimes philosophical reasons in much of the country.
These non-medical vaccine exemptions have surged since the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of vaccine misinformation and distrust of health authorities.
In South Carolina, for example, one now finds " There are numerous places you can go, and many social media accounts that will inform you and guide you step by step to obtain this exemption." explains Ms. Nolan.
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After measles, health authorities fear a resurgence of whooping cough.
According to a September 2025 survey by the Washington Post and the NGO KFF, one in six American parents avoids or postpones vaccinating their children due to fear of side effects and lack of trust in health authorities.
This trend is particularly pronounced in white and conservative circles and is causing great concern among medical experts.
For Melissa Nolan, this epidemic is surely, unfortunately, only the beginning: I think we're going to start seeing more and more cases of whooping cough and a whole range of other vaccine-preventable diseases" she warns.
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