{"id":219192,"date":"2026-08-02T21:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-officials-focus-on-identification-and-rapid-action-as-measles-cases-rise-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:44:24","slug":"us-officials-focus-on-identification-and-rapid-action-as-measles-cases-rise-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-officials-focus-on-identification-and-rapid-action-as-measles-cases-rise-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US officials focus on identification and rapid action as measles cases rise – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities in Delaware tackle cluster with vaccination and contract tracing \u2013 but field has been weakened by cuts
Measles outbreaks are igniting throughout the United States as the nation passes the highest case count in 30 years \u2013 putting greater pressure on state and local health departments and highlighting the importance of early identification and quick action.
The US has officially surpassed last year\u2019s tally of measles cases, reaching 2,371 confirmed infections<\/a> by the end of July. Those numbers have been driven by clusters in Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah \u2013 but in times of high transmission, outbreaks elsewhere become more likely. And with decreasing vaccination rates across the country, these sparks are falling on increasingly dry timber.
In July, Delaware announced its first case of measles in more than a decade. Two days later, officials declared an outbreak, with five known cases.
Like other parts of the country, vaccination rates have dropped in Delaware, from 98.5% of kindergartners vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) in 2016 compared to 94.1% now. A threshold of about 95% is considered essential for herd immunity to protect those who cannot get vaccinated or who don\u2019t mount a good immune reaction \u2013 including babies and cancer patients.
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be below that threshold. And the lower we get, the more likelihood there is that someone who can\u2019t be vaccinated yet \u2013 because of their age or because of their immune status \u2013 is going to come into contact with someone who has unfortunately contracted measles,\u201d said Robert Rosenbaum, Delaware\u2019s medical director for emergency medical services and preparedness.
Attitudes toward vaccines have changed in a couple of different ways, he said. The idea of a link between autism and vaccination, now disproved by multiple studies, proved to be \u201chorrible misinformation\u201d that \u201ccreated a lot of confusion for people\u201d, Rosenbaum said. Some parents also began trying to create their own vaccination schedule out of the belief that children receive too many vaccines \u2013 a view frequently espoused<\/a> by Donald Trump.
The pandemic supercharged existing misinformation about vaccines.
\u201cThere were a lot of people who had feelings about the Covid vaccination, and that has crossed over to other vaccinations where people are moving away from everything,\u201d Rosenbaum said.
William Chasanov, an infectious disease physician at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes, Delaware, said he \u201cdid see the pendulum swing with Covid\u201d. The Covid vaccines saved hundreds of thousands of lives \u2013 but at the same time, more of the public began seeing vaccines as optional, he said.
\u201cThere was a shift in thought that \u2018maybe I don\u2019t need vaccines for things that I haven\u2019t seen,\u2019\u201d Chasanov said. The measles vaccine has in some ways become a victim of its own success; those who haven\u2019t encountered measles before don\u2019t understand why it needs to be prevented, he said.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, now the health secretary, spent about two decades spreading misinformation about vaccines \u2013 and that advocacy went into overtime during the pandemic, when wider audiences were exposed to his anti-vaccine views.
As health secretary, Kennedy has framed measles vaccination during this outbreak as a personal choice, and he has falsely claimed<\/a> it\u2019s \u201cvery difficult\u201d for healthy children to die of measles.
But the evidence strongly points to the effectiveness and safety of two doses of the MMR vaccines, Rosenbaum said. \u201cAnyone who isn\u2019t advocating that is not following science consistently.\u201d
Vaccines are key to prevent measles \u2013 but equally important is education for families who have questions about vaccines and access to healthcare for those who need the shots and other care, experts said.
Measles is an awful disease, Chasanov said. It can bring high fevers, difficulty breathing, and extreme lethargy. It can infect the brain, causing encephalitis, which can have lasting health effects. And it can lead to death \u2013 even, sometimes, years later<\/a>.
\u201cUnderstanding what the consequences could be is part of that education,\u201d Chasanov said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s important to know that the measles vaccine is one of the most highly effective vaccines that we\u2019ve had on the market for decades \u2026 Measles is highly contagious, but it\u2019s also highly preventable.\u201d
The day after the first case was announced in Delaware, more than 60 people<\/a> received MMR vaccinations at public health clinics and mobile vaccination units.
\u201cWhen things hit closer to home, you start asking questions because it becomes more personal,\u201d Chasanov said. \u201cIt spurs a healthy conversation that I encourage people to have with their clinicians to say, \u2018Do I need to do anything different with vaccination?\u2019\u201d
Anyone born before 1989 may need to get a second dose of the measles shot, which became standard practice in the late 80s. One measles shot is about 93% effective, but two are about 97% effective. Those born before 1957 likely have immunity from measles infection as a child.
At this point, public health officials aren\u2019t recommending early vaccination for children under one or children under four who have only received one shot \u2013 unless they\u2019re in contact with a positive patient.
\u201cWhat we don\u2019t have at this point is a large-scale epidemic where we might be changing some of those vaccine recommendations,\u201d Rosenbaum said. \u201cCertainly, if the numbers change or for some indication to change it, we would revisit that.\u201d
Delaware has released few details about the cases for medical privacy reasons. The first four patients<\/a> were all unvaccinated men in Kent county. The fifth patient was vaccinated and has extremely mild symptoms \u2013 one of the benefits of vaccination. An outbreak is declared when three or more connected cases appear.
\u201cDelaware has responded very rapidly,\u201d Chasanov said. The division of public health met with healthcare systems and providers to walk through plans in case someone with measles walks through their doors.
Officials are approaching the outbreak with a two-pronged approach: vaccination and contact tracing, the mainstays of public health. The field, however, has been battered \u2013 by the long hours and stress of the pandemic, and by chronic underfunding and growing threats<\/a> that stretch public health thin.
Contact tracing is how officials discovered the four additional cases. After the first person tested positive, public health staff got in touch with anyone who was in contact with him \u2013 searching especially for very high-risk people like young children (and anyone else) not vaccinated yet or only partially immunized, pregnant people, and anyone with a weakened immune response.
\u201cThe contact tracing has really done a nice job of identifying the at-risk contacts,\u201d Rosenbaum said. \u201cSo the good news is, I would say, if people haven\u2019t heard from us, we\u2019re not actively looking for them.\u201d Now, they\u2019re monitoring contacts to see if they develop symptoms, and they\u2019re looking for any other cases they may have missed in contact tracing.
They\u2019re also trying to reach anyone with poor access to healthcare, including those without health insurance.
\u201dThe public health safety net is an important one,\u201d Rosenbaum said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want anyone who wants to get vaccinated to feel like they\u2019re unable to do so because of insurance status \u2026 That\u2019s the function of public health, right? To help people who are at risk and may be vulnerable.\u201d
Outbreaks like these are happening all over the country, with pockets of cases sprouting up and officials racing to prevent spread through early identification, contact tracing, vaccination, education, and improved healthcare access.
\u201cWe have a process that we follow,\u201d Rosenbaum said. \u201cAnd when we follow that process well, we have the opportunity to stem the outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Authorities in Delaware tackle cluster with vaccination and contract tracing \u2013 but field has been weakened by cutsMeasles outbreaks are igniting throughout the United States as the nation passes the highest case count in 30 years \u2013 putting greater pressure on state and local health departments and highlighting the importance of early identification and quick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}