South Carolina’s measles outbreak is over after sickening nearly 1,000 people

Measles outbreak in 2026 is crazy

>While uptake was slow to begin with, public health workers, doctors’ offices and pharmacies administered nearly 82,000 measles vaccines from October to March. That was an increase of more than 30% from the same time period a year prior. Spartanburg County saw a 94% increase in vaccinations. At least some good news on getting more people to treat Measles seriously. It is unclear on how many of those doses were just families getting vaccinated a bit sooner than normal or older adults getting an additional dose. I know that has been a challenging get families with unvaccinated children to get vaccinated in many places with recent outbreaks. The Measles [outbreak in Utah](https://files.epi.utah.gov/Utah%20measles%20dashboard.html) is still going and doesn't seem likely end soon.

So the moral of the story is get your kids vaccinated. Don’t listen to RFK Jr.

I remember growing up in the 60's and 70's, coming of age in the 80's, having a child in the 90's. Never having to read a headline like this in America. Were there other horrific things going on in the world? Of course there was. But childhood vaccines were just a given. Now those fully vaccinated kids are having babies of their own and foregoing that protection for their kids because social media bullshit. Now here we are again. What's next? Polio and tuberculosis?

To be honest I’m surprised the MAHA folks are allowing health departments to track this stuff at all anymore.

Religious conservatives do love spreading diseases.

Full article text: > South Carolina’s measles outbreak — the worst in the U.S. in more than 35 years — is over, state health officials declared Monday. > On Sunday, the state passed the threshold of 42 days with no new outbreak-related cases. In the end, 997 people were sickened by the vaccine-preventable disease since October and at least 21 of them were hospitalized, based on voluntary reports to the state. State health officials estimate the outbreak response cost $2.1 million. > “The outbreak was predominantly contained to one area of one county and never went statewide, thanks to timely investigations, identification of those exposed, and people’s willingness to stay home,” said Dr. Edward Simmer, interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health. > Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known to medicine. Most recover after a high fever, cough, runny nose and a telltale rash. But some, including very young children and people with weak immune systems, can get pneumonia, brain swelling or even die. Measles can also cause health problems later in life for those who recover. The vaccine is safe and 97% effective after two doses. > Centered in northwestern Spartanburg County, the measles outbreak was the fastest-growing the U.S. has seen in decades, state health officials said. Public health officials confirmed more than 650 cases in January alone, and the outbreak quickly eclipsed the 2025 outbreak in West Texas that sickened at least 762 people and killed two school-age children. > But a sooner-than-predicted decline in cases came as welcome news to doctors and health workers. A few things may have helped, Dr. Brannon Traxler, chief medical officer for the state health department, said last week. To some extent, it’s possible that the outbreak waned as more people got sick, she said, but more people also got vaccinated. > While uptake was slow to begin with, public health workers, doctors’ offices and pharmacies administered nearly 82,000 measles vaccines from October to March. That was an increase of more than 30% from the same time period a year prior. Spartanburg County saw a 94% increase in vaccinations. > The public health department also worked to contain the spread, sending nearly 2,300 quarantine letters, making more than 1,670 case investigation calls and working across seven school districts to quarantine 874 students. > Measles continues to spread nationwide. So far this year, the U.S. has logged 1,792 cases — nearly 80% of 2025’s record-breaking total — and 22 new outbreaks. Florida has confirmed 134 cases this year and Texas has 180, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. > Of greatest concern now is an outbreak that started on the Arizona-Utah border and has since spread across much of Utah. Since August, 607 people have been sickened in Utah. Mohave County, Arizona, has also confirmed 282 cases. Genetic analysis indicates the outbreak could have started six weeks earlier and may have been much larger than reported, according to research presented at a CDC conference last week. > Cases have slowed a bit, but it’s still too soon to say an end is in sight, said Dr. Ellie Brownstein, a Utah pediatrician and president-elect of the state’s American Academy of Pediatrics chapter. State data show that southwestern Utah still has the most cases — 258 — but each of the state’s 13 local health districts has logged at least one case. > “It has marched through the state and is everywhere,” Brownstein said. > In South Carolina, the end of the outbreak has given health workers only a slight reprieve. Last week, a case linked to international travel in Saluda County, west of Columbia, led to 41 people having to quarantine. > “We are certainly not letting our guard down, and I don’t think that South Carolinians who are still vulnerable to the virus, that don’t have immunity, should let their guard down,” Traxler said. > The virus has resurged across the Americas since a major outbreak started in Canada in fall 2024. In the U.S., childhood vaccination rates against the measles have fallen for years, as more parents opt out of shots required for school. In November, international health officials will determine if the U.S. has lost its measles elimination status, which it has maintained since 2000. > Dr. Martha Edwards, president of the South Carolina chapter of the AAP, said the end of the outbreak brought a mix of gratitude and anger. > “I’m angry that many children and their parents had to worry about contracting or suffering through a disease that should have been nearly 100% preventable,” she said.

If only this tragedy could have been prevented…

Totally preventable btw, if it weren't for Trump and Republicans being so damn stupid when it comes to science and vaccines.

I'm almost 46 years old. I recently had a blood test to determine my immunity levels for measles and some other conditions to see if I needed the vaccine again. Im still immune. I don't know how on earth anyone can be antivac. It feels magical that a needle (however many decades ago i had it) is STILL protecting me. Why would you NOT want that???

Survival of the vaccinated, isnt that what they say?

Outbreak is over...FOR NOW.  Anti-vaxxers are likely going to cause more out reals of other diseases in the future.

See? Outbreaks will wear off on their own. People don't need the vaccine./s

Based on my brief time in South Carolina, I’m not surprised it was the site of such a thing.

It's good that at the moment the coronavirus has quieted down otherwise it would have been h*******

So much for those essential oils. Maybe they can try bleach next

What sort of headline is that? They’re getting worse! It’s like a toddler wrote it.

Must have cost a ton of money to treat those on Medicaid as well as to investigate and help quell the outbreak

Seems like this admin wants us to suffer. Everything they’ve done is to put us back. If I were a country that hated the US, they are doing absolutely everything correct to destroy us. It’s maddening, and we can’t do shit until elections.

Congratulations on experimenting on humans to discover what was already known.

See? All we Americans need is to experience every plague from history first hand. Then we’ll embrace the science. That’s how smart we are.

Well, there goes "herd immunity." I don't think most people have been educated on the subject, so to all you antivaxxers out there and everyone else: Vaccines only work when just about everyone in the "herd" (community) gets one. Because then there are no outbreaks. After time, we've been able to reach herd immunity, by strictly following vaccination protocols. Now that South Carolina has had an outbreak - everyone has to worry. Because it took a CENTURY to eradicate measles from our herds. Now that's all been undone. By antivaxxers, celebrities touting their thoughts (autism was recognized before the measles vaccine!) and even POLITICIANS. Why, you say would or could this be happening in a country such as ours? I'm too afraid to say my theory. And that should scare you enough. Get your dam kids vaccinated. Please.

I track Utah’s measles from their public health and the number of cases they have had has been drastically falling as well. Utah had the 2nd largest outbreak behind South Carolina.

Voiceover: it wasn’t over

What's with the title when the first sentence says thanks to vaccines? /rant off