In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the US, but outbreaks from imported cases are an increasing problem. The country recently reached a grim milestone: the number of reported measles cases has reached a 33-year high – over 1200 cases – according to Johns Hopkins University. Most cases are occurring in Texas in unvaccinated individuals.
“The ongoing outbreak we are seeing in the U.S. underscores the importance of maintaining adequate levels of measles vaccination,” says IVAC Executive Director William Moss. “The U.S. is at risk of losing its measles elimination status should cases continue at this rate. As vaccine confidence continues to be undermined, immunization is more important than ever to end this outbreak and prevent future outbreaks from occurring.”
Other countries are also grappling with rising cases. More than 127,000 measles cases were reported in the European region in 2024 – double that of 2023 and the highest number of cases since 1997. As of March 2, 2025, 38 deaths across Europe had been reported, but the tally is increasing. On July 13, it was announced that a child with measles in the UK had died.
“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call. Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security. As we shape our new regional health strategy for Europe and central Asia, we cannot afford to lose ground. Every country must step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities,” said Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “The measles virus never rests – and neither can we.”
A dose of vaccine history
The history of the measles vaccine dates back to 1954. During a measles outbreak in Boston, a young physician named Thomas Peebles collected blood and throat swab samples from infected children at a local school. One of these samples, taken from a boy named David Edmonston, allowed Peebles to successfully isolate the measles virus for the first time.
The breakthrough laid the groundwork for John Franklin Enders – already renowned for his work on the polio vaccine – and his team to develop a live attenuated measles virus. A vaccine was licensed for public use in 1963, but although it was effective, there were side effects.
In response, Maurice Hilleman – a vaccinologist at MSD – created a more refined and better-tolerated version of the vaccine in 1968, which became the foundation of the modern measles vaccine still in use today. In 1971, Hilleman combined the measles vaccine with those for mumps and rubella into a single injection, the now-ubiquitous MMR vaccine. A second dose was later added to the recommended schedule in the late 1980s, after studies showed that one dose wasn’t enough to ensure immunity in all individuals. It has been estimated that measles vaccination prevented more than 60 million deaths globally between 2000 and 2023.
The UK has been recording measles cases and deaths since 1940, which provide an interesting look at how things changed after vaccines entered the picture. The measles vaccine was first introduced in the country in 1986. In 2017, measles was declared eliminated in the UK, but this status was lost in 2019.
The resurgence
Measles cases are rising in many countries because less children are having the vaccine. In the UK, for example, around 85% of children received the recommended two doses in 2022-2023. The recommended figure is 95% to achieve herd immunity. In some British cities, less than 75% five-year-olds are fully vaccinated.
Measles is a highly contagious disease. According to Adam Rather, director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at NYU and author of Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health, measles “spreads with unbelievable efficiency, in a nonimmune or a partially immune population…The estimate is that in a totally nonimmune population, someone with measles can infect about 90% of the people around them and that the average person in a population like that will affect somewhere around 14 additional people.”
Anti-vaccine activism is a major contributor behind falling rates of vaccination – and received a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, which magnified the reach of vaccine misinformation. The appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr to the post of US health secretary has also been seen by many as an endorsement of anti-vaccine views, given his history of spreading debunked claims linking vaccines to autism and promoting conspiracy theories about public health institutions. His appointment alarmed many medical experts and public health advocates.
Where do we go from here? I recently spoke with over 100 professionals in the pharma industry about the future of drug development – with many raising concerns about the rise of misinformation. Everyone in this industry has a role to play in raising awareness about the importance of vaccines – and how anti-vaccine sentiments are wasting lives.
What do you think the pharma industry can do to combat vaccine misinformation? Let me know: stephanie.vine@conexiant.com.
Newsletters
Receive the latest pharmaceutical news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.
