U.S. measles cases hit 25-year high

The number of measles cases in the United States this year has exceeded the total for the whole of 2024. According to statistics from the California Department of Public Health, so far, about 1,200 cases of measles have been reported in the United States, including three deaths, the first in more than a decade. The deaths include two unvaccinated children from Texas and one unvaccinated adult from New Mexico. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that more than half of the cases this year were children, and 95% of the infected people were unvaccinated. Although California has a high measles vaccination rate, according to statistics from the 2022-2023 school year, about 96.5% of kindergarten children have completed full vaccination, but because residents travel abroad or go to areas with low vaccination rates such as Texas, they may still be infected locally and get sick again after returning home, increasing the risk of contact with the local community. The epidemic in Texas is particularly serious at present, with about 750 cases reported throughout the state, of which 97 people require hospitalization, and about 12% of the cases nationwide are severe. There has been no community transmission in California so far, and all cases are related to travel. Public health experts warn that if the number of unvaccinated people continues to increase, the highly contagious virus will spread more easily among the population, and call on the public to check and complete their vaccination records as soon as possible just in case.