Measles outbreak in South Carolina schools raises concern

More than 130 unvaccinated students at two South Carolina schools are in quarantine after being exposed to measles, amid an ongoing outbreak in the state, a sign, public health experts warn, that cases may continue to rise this school year.

On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health certain The 16th case of measles in the state so far this year. Last week, public health officials He said At a press conference, he stated that more than 100 unvaccinated students at Global Academy and Fairforest Elementary School had been exposed to measles and would be excluded from school for 21 days, the period when potential transmission of the disease ends.

Of the 16 cases in the state, five are people who were exposed to the virus in schools and have been quarantining at home over the past few days, according to South Carolina health officials.

The fact that students in South Carolina were exposed to measles explains why people are concerned about a rise in cases as children return to classrooms, says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“We have an increasing number of susceptible children whose parents have chosen not to vaccinate them,” Offit says. “This is the most contagious human infection, and it is not surprising that as children return to school, and as we enter the winter and early spring months, you will see this virus surging again.”

The outbreak in South Carolina comes amid a rise in measles cases across the country. This summer, measles cases in the United States reached their highest level in 33 years, prompting public health experts to warn that other diseases may see a similar resurgence. Minnesota is also in the midst of an outbreak. As of last week, there is 20 confirmed or probable cases in the state so far this year.

Public health officials stressed that the best way to protect against measles is vaccination with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is usually given in childhood in two doses. Experts said the successful vaccination program was a big part of the reason why measles was declared eliminated from the country more than two decades ago. But vaccination rates have declined in recent years, and measles cases have risen.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella, “most people are protected by herd immunity.” But CDC data shows that only 92.7% of kindergartners were vaccinated during the 2023-2024 school year. That number has dropped to about 90% in some parts of South Carolina, according to State public health officials.

Read more: Do you need a measles booster vaccine?

As of last week, the C.D.C certain 1,563 cases of measles so far this year. Many of these cases trace back to an outbreak in Texas that began in late January, which sickened more than 700 people and killed two unvaccinated children in Texas and one unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.

In August, Texas health officials announced that the outbreak had ended, but warned that the threat posed by the disease was far from over. At the time, Offit said that although the outbreak in Texas had subsided, he feared case numbers could rise again within months.

Offit also expresses concern that the national case numbers confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are an undercount. He criticizes Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic who made a number of changes to the country’s immunization policy, to undermine health agencies’ ability to track and monitor the disease.