--- title: Measles Is Back. And a Lot More People Are at Risk description: "Low vaccination rates create risks for many others," writes Dr. Ashish K. Jha. canonical: https://time.com/7266454/measles-outbreak-essay-ashish-jha/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-03-10T14:56:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:50:47.463Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Measles Is Back. And a Lot More People Are at Risk og:description: "Low vaccination rates create risks for many others," writes Dr. Ashish K. Jha. og:url: https://time.com/7266454/measles-outbreak-essay-ashish-jha/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6fe0cd38b0afa4e/6998c4cd1500fb0823aa60f9/measles-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: measles-vaccine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Measles Is Back. And a Lot More People Are at Risk twitter:description: "Low vaccination rates create risks for many others," writes Dr. Ashish K. Jha. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6fe0cd38b0afa4e/6998c4cd1500fb0823aa60f9/measles-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Measles Is Back. And a Lot More People Are at Risk > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico._  by [Dr. Ashish K. Jha](https://time.com/author/dr-ashish-k-jha/)  ## Dr. Ashish K. Jha Mar 10, 2025 2:56 PM UTC West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10\. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.  by [Dr. Ashish K. Jha](https://time.com/author/dr-ashish-k-jha/)  ## Dr. Ashish K. Jha Mar 10, 2025 2:56 PM UTC A friend called recently asking about measles. She’s the mother of four very young kids and wanted to know if she should be worried. She’d heard about the large measles outbreak in northwest Texas.[ Since January, more than 159 people](https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/texas-announces-first-death-measles-outbreak) are known to have been infected, and the outbreak has resulted in two deaths and dozens of hospitalizations. Now, this measles outbreak has spread into nine other states, and there’s an alert to travelers passing through the Los Angeles Airport. Contrary to [statements by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.](https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-says-us-measles-outbreak-not-unusual-fact-check-2037376), outbreaks of this deadly disease are highly unusual. The U.S. declared measles eliminated more than 20 years ago, thanks to an exceptionally safe and effective vaccine. But efforts to undermine confidence in that vaccine have contributed to these recent outbreaks. There are things we can do, individually and collectively, to protect our most vulnerable and hopefully eliminate measles in this country again. My friend understands the settled evidence behind the safety and efficacy of vaccines. She’s following the vaccine schedule her pediatrician recommended. Measles vaccines are among the most protective shots we have, so when she gets her kids vaccinated, they are protected. But the large outbreaks we are starting to see are still creating risks, including among our very youngest kids, our immunocompromised kids, and even among vulnerable adults. Measles vaccines are highly effective: 93% after the first dose, 99% after the second dose. The problem is the timing. The first dose is not recommended until a child is 12 to 15 months old, and the second dose usually between the ages of 4 and 6\. Infants have some passive immunity from their mom’s antibodies for the first 6 months, but not enough to be fully protective, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends that parents of children too young to be vaccinated avoid travel to areas with measles outbreaks. **Read More**: [_What to Know About the Measles Vaccine_](https://time.com/7261250/measles-vaccine-what-to-know/) All children under the age of 1, before they get their first measles vaccine, are at risk if they come near someone with measles. Given that measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth, outbreaks mean we are likely to see more infections among children in this age range, including kids whose parents fully intend to vaccinate. And while the first dose is highly protective, the best protection comes after the second dose, which is usually given when a child is ready to start school. Between those two doses, children may still be at some risk, especially if they come into repeated contact with measles from others refusing or unable to be vaccinated. Beyond the youngest kids, two other groups need special attention. The first is children who are immunocompromised. Some of these children, such as those undergoing cancer treatment, cannot get the measles vaccine because the vaccine is a weakened form of the live virus, and in someone who is immunocompromised, it can actually cause the disease. Therefore, these immunocompromised kids rely on high levels of population immunity to protect them. When population vaccination rates fall below 95%, the virus can begin to circulate, and vulnerable children can become infected and will get very sick if they do. The second potentially vulnerable group are elderly and immunocompromised adults. Most elderly people should have some immunity against measles; people born before 1957 likely had measles, and starting in the 1960s, people started getting vaccinated (though through 1968, the available vaccine was a little less effective). In general, we assume that everyone has lifelong immunity, whether from an infection or vaccines. But we don’t really know for sure. If a senior in her 80s had measles when she was 5, is she still protected? What about an adult undergoing chemotherapy? Immunity in these two populations may hold up fine—but we urgently need studies to better understand the risks of being exposed to measles for these types of individuals. Measles in an elderly or immunocompromised adult who isn’t protected—either because they cannot be vaccinated or because their immunity has not held up over time—is likely to be quite severe. And it is possible that the elderly may need an additional shot to protect them if they live in a high outbreak area. We don’t know, and we can’t make recommendations without data. **Read More**: [_A Study Retracted 15 Years Ago Continues to Threaten Childhood Vaccines_ ](https://time.com/7211491/eleanor-menzin-childhood-vaccine-myths-essay/) Years of scaremongering about vaccines have led to low vaccination rates in many communities across America. A now-standard refrain is that parents are simply putting their own kids at risk but not harming anyone else. The truth is this: low vaccination rates create risks for many others. They create risks for kids who are still too young to get vaccinated. They create risks for kids who are immunocompromised, who can’t get vaccinated. They may also create risks for older or immunocompromised adults whose immune systems are not robust enough to protect them. So when my family friend with a child under one called about protecting her children, my advice was clear. Stay away from areas with outbreaks. Get your child vaccinated as soon as they are eligible, and encourage your friends and others in your community to do so, too—because while she can eventually get all of her children protected, no such option exists for the child battling leukemia. And no such option exists for all those who are immunocompromised or at risk because of waning immunity. We owe it to all of them to make sure we stamp out measles in the U.S. again. ## Transcript [00:06] If you think about what the case fatality ratio is for measles, [00:10] we shouldn't be having three deaths with 600 cases. [00:14] That would probably equal out to 3000 cases. [00:17] So just recognize that our that that [00:19] our numbers we have a severity bias here. There's a bias in the numbers. [00:22] We're not getting the full picture here because there's lack of [00:25] diagnostic testing people not coming forward to be tested. [00:27] So I anticipate we're going to see that see more cases. [00:32] And because there's just more people with measles that are not in the official numbers. [00:36] Unfortunately, last week we, um, [00:38] actually had measles enter a daycare and we've been [00:41] working really hard with that daycare owner, um, [00:44] to make sure that we're excluding children that are unvaccinated [00:47] and then also trying to encourage those additional vaccines, [00:50] um, for the other children in the center. [00:52] Um, we're currently at 6 or 7 cases, [00:55] um, in that facility. [00:57] But we do have more kids that are undergoing testing. [01:00] So I think that outbreak will grow. [01:02] Our big push over the next couple of weeks is really going to be [01:05] vaccinations, um, in Lubbock. [01:08] Um, really focusing on getting all of those young ones in, um, [01:12] hopefully being able to open some vaccine clinics, um, [01:15] seven days a week for a couple of weeks, [01:17] um, to really increase that vaccine rate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7266454/measles-outbreak-essay-ashish-jha/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7266454/measles-outbreak-essay-ashish-jha/"},"headline":"Measles Is Back. And a Lot More People Are at Risk","datePublished":"2025-03-10T14:56:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:50:47.463Z","description":"\"Low vaccination rates create risks for many others,\" writes Dr. Ashish K. 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