A disease declared eradicated in the United States a quarter century ago has returned with a force not seen since 1991, as more than 2,300 Americans — most of them children — have contracted measles in 2026 alone. The resurgence is not a failure of medicine but a failure of trust: a post-pandemic erosion of faith in public health institutions, amplified by misinformation and codified through rising non-medical exemptions, has quietly dismantled the immunological shield that once made such outbreaks unthinkable. What measles reveals, epidemiologists warn, is not merely a single disease returnin
US faces worst measles outbreak in 35 years as vaccine hesitancy surges
The outbreak disproportionately affects children; 2025 saw three deaths including two young children, with measles causing pneumonia, brain inflammation, and potential long-term disability or death.