“I’m back” — Measles
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Like an unwanted guest who finally leaves, measles saw its deleterious effects on the nation finally end in 2000. America was declared free from endemic measles infection. After that, if an American wanted to suffer a disease that frequently causes dehydration, ear infections, bronchitis, laryngitis, or croup — and which can lead to hospitalizations with encephalitis and other severe symptoms, and which may be fatal — they had to stay unvaccinated and travel abroad.
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Now, thanks to a political party that thinks science and research are either a hoax, a Democratic plot, or a money grab by drug companies, an American can catch the infection without traveling far. Earlier in 2025, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma were ground zero for unnecessary infections. By July, the AP reported that “The US is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades.”
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The infection is spreading. The Washington Post reports that South Carolina and the Arizona/Utah border are seeing widespread active infections.
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The newspaper writes:
Measles outbreaks are growing along the Utah-Arizona border and in South Carolina, where hundreds are in quarantine.
Between Friday and Tuesday, South Carolina health officials confirmed 27 new measles cases in an outbreak in and around northwestern Spartanburg County. In two months, 111 people have been sickened by the vaccine-preventable virus.
More than 250 people, including students from nine area elementary, middle and high schools, are in quarantine — some for the second time since the outbreak began in October. Most of the state’s new cases stemmed from exposures at Way of Truth Church in Inman.
The last sentence sheds some light on the issue. It is not fair to say that religion leads to poor decision-making. I am unaware of research that seriously supports that contention. However, there is enough, at least anecdotal, evidence of a correlation between specific patterns of religious belief and disease outbreaks to warrant a study.
WaPo also points out the almost certain reason for this increase in measles contagion.
South Carolina’s measles outbreak is “accelerating” in the wake of Thanksgiving travel and a lack of vaccinations, an epidemiologist for the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) warned Wednesday, after authorities traced a sizable outbreak to a church in the state’s northwest.
Of the 111 measles cases recorded in that area, known as the Upstate region, 105 involved people who were unvaccinated, while three involved those who were partially vaccinated, state epidemiologist Linda Bell said at a news briefing. One dose of the vaccine is 93 percent effective against measles, while the full two-dose regimen is 97 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In case anyone still hasn’t grasped the point, the newspaper adds:
At least 254 people had been placed in quarantine as of Tuesday, 16 of whom are in isolation, the DPH said in a news release.
Bell said that 27 new cases had been reported since Friday, bringing the total reported to the DPH this year to 114. “Accelerating is an accurate term. That is a spike in cases we are concerned about,” she said in response to a question from a reporter, adding that South Carolina has “lower than hoped for” vaccination coverage.
I don’t get why people look at two centuries of medical advances and a concomitant increase in health and life expectancy and believe there are conspirators behind the program.
It's as if they were faced with two bridges. One that engineers rated highly safe and had supported millions of crossers with few incidents. And one that has seen millions fall to their death and was only recommended by politicians, pastors, media talking heads, conservative influencers, and cranks. And they picked the latter.
A history of medical progress hits a wall of anti-science superstition and hokum.
Once upon a time in America, the people expected their government to safeguard their health. The citizens died of infectious diseases and demanded that something be done. Scientists developed vaccines to combat smallpox, diphtheria, cholera, rabies, typhoid, and plague — deaths from these diseases declined.
Then, in 1901, in St. Louis, 13 children died of tetanus-contaminated diphtheria antitoxin. In the fall of 1901, nine children in Camden, New Jersey, died from the tainted smallpox vaccine. The government, listening to the scientists, didn’t go all anti-vax. Instead, Congress passed the Biologics Control Act of 1902 to ensure vaccines met official standards.
Some shortcut-taking companies went out of business. But those already in compliance prospered as Americans saw life expectancy rise, with fewer unnecessary deaths. In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drugs Act, further regulating the industry and ensuring people’s safety.
Then came the typhoid vaccine, followed by vaccines against pertussis, tuberculosis, yellow fever, influenza, and hepatitis A & B. In 1949, the US saw its last case of smallpox. Then came a vaccine against yellow fever, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed the Vaccination Assistance Act into law, allowing the CDC to support mass immunization campaigns and to initiate maintenance programs. Although conspiracy theorists, crackpots, and other anti-government types warned of peril, the people and their government embraced science and common sense. And life expectancy kept increasing.
Sometimes these new vaccines had side effects. But again, the government did not embrace anti-vax insanity. Instead, the CDC and NIH worked with researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to develop safer, more effective versions of these life-saving advances.
In 2000, measles was declared no longer endemic in the United States following eradication campaigns. And everybody lived happily ever after — until Trump came along and installed anti-science crusaders at the head of the nation’s healthcare apparatus. Now, unnecessary deaths and hospitalizations are on the rise.
How this makes America great again is anyone’s guess.
