#measles

#measles

The outbreak is still mostly affecting unvaccinated children under 10 in schools and nurseries. With the time lag involved with confirming cases through laboratory testing, we expect the actual number of cases to be higher. The outbreak has led to some children having to be hospitalised. Measles is a nasty illness for any child, but for some it can lead to serious long term complications and tragically death, but is so easily preventable with two doses of the MMRV vaccine.

Florida Department of Health tracking shows that as of Feb. 7, the most recent data available, most cases in the state of the highly infectious disease are in Collier County, where, each day, more students and professors at Ave Maria University near Naples are showing symptoms. Although the state's tracking charts show 45 cases in college-aged students in the area, the university said in a statement this week that the total number of cases is nearer to 60.

Then, in November 2025, our international shame. The Pan American Health Organization revoked Canada's measles elimination status, following more than a year of sustained transmission of the same strain. We'd eliminated the virus in 1998 and held onto the status for twenty-seven years owing to a safe and effective vaccine, but as vaccine hesitancy grew and vaccination rates dropped, susceptibility to this once-vanquished disease skyrocketed.

A case of measles was confirmed on December 24th in Contra Costa County, and officials have now issued a warning that anyone who was shopping at multiple stores in Walnut Creek before Christmas Eve could have been exposed. The infected person was apparently shopping at Anthropologie on December 17 or 19, at Macy's or the Apple Store on December 18, and several other locations. [KTVU]