measles Archives - usatoday24

The Government of Mexico says that the measles crisis is a “global problem.” The data says it is a self-inflicted crisis

February 17, 2026 by usatoday24

Mexico is going through a very critical moment as far as measles is concerned, since infections they don’t stop increasing in different parts of the country and even with several dozen dead for the infection. And here the question we can ask ourselves is quite obvious: How is it possible that this has happened with a disease that was practically under control? The statements. In the offices of the Ministry of Health of Mexico they have found a rhetorical umbrella for the storm that is falling on them, pointing to the “global context”. According to the official narrative, the rebound in measles that the country is experiencing is simply the local echo of a trend that also you are living in other countriesso it may serve as political consolation not to be the only country to go through this crisis. The problem with this defense is that, when one stops looking at the world map and zooms in on the national data for each country, the excuse falls apart. All this because Mexico is not suffering from measles “like everyone else” but is suffering it with an intensity and lethality that shows structural cracks in its own public health system. Measles is here. To understand the defense of the Mexican Government, we must first grant them the part they are right. Measles, a disease from which many they had forgotten due to their high controlhas had a revival unpleasant in recent years. To give us an idea, the WHO itself registered more than 552,000 cases suspected in 179 countries during 2025, which was accompanied by vaccination coverage that was declining globally while the world looked almost exclusively at COVID-19. In this way, it is a fact that the virus is circulating and, in American countries, the Pan American Health Organization has already warned of a large increase in measles cases between 2024 and 2025 in different regions. The Mexican exception. However, hiding behind the global trend to explain what is happening on Mexican soil is cheating the solitary. The key in this case is in the figures for the month of February, which paint a quite disproportionate scenario compared to its neighbors. To give us an idea, Mexico accumulates more than 9,400 cases confirmed from the end of 2025 to mid-2026. And to put it in context, in all of 2025 America added 14,891 cases, so Mexico is not just another statistic, but is the epicenter of the problem in the hemisphere, concentrating a large part of the infections in North America. His mortality. While in other countries the different outbreaks are being contained, in Mexico the number of deaths is counted in the dozens. Right now in Mexico there are 29 deaths in seven states, and the most worrying data comes from Chihuahua, which accumulates 21 of these deaths, followed by a worrying situation in Mexico City with two deaths and Jalisco, which accounts for 60% of the cases in 2026. The extra problem is that they are not isolated outbreaks, but rather there is active transmission in 32 states and 335 municipalities, so the virus moves with a freedom that suggests that the epidemiological firewalls have failed. The reasons. If the virus is the same for everyone, why does Mexico take the brunt of it? The answer is not abroad, but in the internal management of recent years. The local press here points to a dismantling of the surveillance systems and also to a collapse in the routine vaccination system that has affected children from 1 to 4 years old. Right now the health authorities boast of having administered millions of doses of vaccine against measles, rubella or mumps, but the reality on the street is different. In this case, coverage in rural areas has fallen well below the 95% necessary for herd immunity and high population mobility, anti-vaccine misinformation and a late response that prioritized the political narrative over health containment also play a role. Images | Jezael Melgoza In Xataka | The myth of 37º: it is increasingly clear to us that there is no “normal” body temperature

The measles outbreak is close to 8,500 cases and puts the health status of the country in check

February 10, 2026 by usatoday24

Measles has ceased to be a latent threat and has become a worrying statistical reality in Mexicoas the latest consolidated data from February 2026 have pointed out. These leave no doubt that the country is going through its most complex outbreak in decades, accumulating 8,459 confirmed cases since the start of the crisis in 2025. It’s already worrying. The situation has escalated to such a point that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued a clear warning: If the chain of transmission is not cut in the coming weeks, Mexico could lose its status as a measles-free country. X-ray of the outbreak. The figures are compelling and draw a map of active transmission in the 32 states of the republic. Although the problem is national, the intensity is not homogeneous, since there are points where positive cases are much more evident. This is something that can be seen in the reports of the Ministry of Health (SSA) of Mexico, which indicates that so far in 2026, 2,143 cases have been reported. But the current epicenter is in Jaliscowhich is where 1,245 cases have been concentrated, representing almost 60% of the reports this entire year. Historical accumulated. Since February 2025, the state of Chihuahua leads the accumulated total with more than 4,400 cases, now followed by the rebound in the west of the country. But the most tragic thing is undoubtedly the human losses, since they have already been confirmed 27 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2025, with two recent deaths recorded in Tlaxcala and Michoacán This is in addition to the fact that the most vulnerable population is the youngest children, who are between one and four years old. Something that also makes it act as the perfect vector to infect the older population and those at greater risk of suffering from a more serious disease. The root of the problem. Experts point out that it is necessary to have a herd immunity to be able to apply containment to this serious health problem. And for such a contagious virus, at least 95% of the population is required to be vaccinated, something very similar to what was noted in the Covid pandemic in our environment. And the problem is precisely in low vaccination coverage that exists in these regions, causing many to not reach this percentage. And, despite the fact that the SSA reports the application of more than 11.8 million vaccinesthe spread of the virus suggests that there are still susceptible population groups, especially those where there are a greater number of cases right now. Use of face masks. As already happened in the COVID pandemic, there are some states such as Jalisco or Nuevo León that are evaluating the use of masks or face coveringsespecially in closed spaces and with a large influx of people. This is a simple containment barrier to prevent spread while the population finishes its vaccination schedule. The ultimatum. On the technical side, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched an extension until April to evaluate whether Mexico has achieved endemic transmission of this virus. This is something that is achieved when there is no continuous circulation of the virus in a territory for 12 months. Mexico has been fighting this outbreak since February 2025, and if transmission continues uninterrupted beyond the calendar year, measles will once again be considered endemic (typical of the region) and not an imported case. In addition to this, PAHO has confirmed that Mexico currently accounts for 71% of the cases on the entire American continent, a figure that forces health authorities to rethink the containment strategy to prevent its spread to the rest of the neighboring countries. What’s coming The next PAHO meeting in April will be critical in this regard. The decision that Mexico lose “measles-free” status It is not just a diplomatic label, but it implies greater costs in epidemiological surveillance, potential barriers in tourism and the confirmation of a major setback in the country’s public health status. Intensive campaigns are underway, but with the virus present in all states and active community transmission, the Mexican health system faces its most important test of the post-COVID era. A global problem. Although the news focuses on the many cases in Mexico in this case, the reality is that In other parts of the planet cases have also increased. One of the clearest examples is in the United States, where the CDC has raised alarm bells after observing how cases are multiplying in a matter of months. In Spain Official data also indicate that, while in 2023 only 14 cases were recorded, in 2024 they increased to 229 cases and in 2025 the forecast points to almost 400. Images | NIH Ed Us In Xataka | The myth of 37º: it is increasingly clear to us that there is no “normal” body temperature

We thought measles was history. The data shows that we were very wrong

January 26, 2026 by usatoday24

For years, measles seemed like a disease of the past in much of the developed world thanks to mass vaccination campaigns who had managed to corner the virus until turning the outbreaks into anecdotes. However, everything is changing as the WHO itself points out either the US CDC by drawing a very different scenario: measles has returned and it has done so with unusual force. The return What began as an “immunity gap” after the pandemic has become in a worrying statistical trend. From the Mediterranean to the United States, and with an echo in Spain, the figures for 2024 and what we have for 2025 confirm a global rebound that tests herd immunity. The global ‘leap’. To understand the magnitude of the problem, you have to look at the raw numbers that the WHO itself offers ussince it makes us see that we are not facing a standard seasonal rebound, but rather it is a very important change in trend. In this case the European Region The WHO has registered 127,350 cases in 2024, a figure that not only doubles the records of 2023, but also marks the all-time high since 1997. In depth. If we break them down, we can see that in Europe cases have increased by 47% compared to pre-pandemic levels and in the Eastern Mediterranean the increase is 86% compared to 2019. In the case of the European Union, ECDC documents more than 35,000 cases in 2024, which increases ten times the previous year. The severity lies not only in the contagion, but in the consequences: more than half of these cases in Europe have required hospitalization. And this leads to greater pressure on care. In the United States. If in Europe there is a lot of concern about this issue, in the North American country, since the growth is vertical. The CDC itself has set off alarms after observing how cases have multiplied by five in a matter of months. In this way, while approximately between 285 and 300 cases were reported in all of 2024, projections and partial data for 2025 place the figure above 1,500 affected. This paints a very clear picture: 92% of infections occur among people who have not been vaccinated, with outbreaks concentrating in communities with low immunization. The case of Spain. If we focus on our country The truth is that we have remained free of endemic measles since 2017. This means that the virus does not constantly circulate freely within our borders. However, globalization is causing a change in photography. Official data indicates that while in 2023 only 14 cases were recorded, in 2204 they increased to 229 cases and in 2025 the forecast points to almost 400. Its origin. The Ministry of Health and the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) point out that the majority are imported cases (mainly from Morocco and Romania) that find “small gaps” to spread. Although there are active outbreaks in communities such as Andalusia, the Basque Country and Catalonia, the virus enters from outside and lights the fuse in non-immunized groups. The mathematics. Measles is one of the most contagious viruses that exists, and to keep it at bay through herd immunity, the WHO establishes a fairly strict safety threshold: 95% of the population must have both doses of the vaccine. This is something where Spain is doing quite well, since the first dose has a coverage of 96-97%, while the second drops to 91-93%. But this difference between having one or two doses is very important. That margin of two or three percentage points below the recommended 95%, added to the anti-vaccine movements and delays in post-COVID vaccination, is the crack through which the virus is sneaking in. Although the general population is protected, there are enough “pockets” of vulnerable population for an imported case to generate a local outbreak. Images | Wikipedia Fusion Medical Animation In Xataka | The myth of 37º: it is increasingly clear to us that there is no “normal” body temperature

The difference between measles data in the United States and in Spain is in vaccines and is summarized in a figure: 95%

February 25, 2025 by usatoday24

During these last months part of our attention has been placed in respiratory viruses such as The fluthe respiratory syncitial virus (RSV), and other viruses typical of these dates. This must be added Other epidemics such as gastroenteritis, also common on these dates and the avian flu epidemic that is causing serious problems in the United States and also threatens our wild and corral birds. While some of these viruses dissipate until next season, one returns with surprising strength: measles. The outbreak in the United States. Several measles outbreaks in the United States have already left 93 cases detected and 23 hospitalizations. At least 86 of these cases have been associated with three outbreaks, being the state of Texas the most affected, the state in which the first cases were detected. Some experts, such as Rekha Lakshmanan, of The Immunization Partnership, in Houston, see these figures such as the tip of the iceberg. “I think this will go worse before improving,” he explained in statements collected by Kff Health News. Texas is one of the more than 35 states in which the vaccination rate is below 95%: According to estimates Of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the southern state has an estimated vaccination population of 94.3%. By ages. CDC data indicate that most cases have occurred between children and adolescents: 28 cases in children under five years (30% of cases), and 48 cases between children and young people among five and 19 years (52%). The measles virus. Measles is an infectious disease caused by a virus that especially affects the child population. It is a disease that spreads easily (at least among unbound people), through contact with nasal fluids, mouth or throat. The incubation period ranges between 10 and 14 days after exposure to the virus, after which the symptoms. The most characteristic of them is a cutaneous eruption that lasts between four days and a week. The list of symptoms can include other varied such as red eyes, cough, fever, muscle pain or nasal congestion among others. Measles is a potentially lethal disease in certain circumstances. Although complications are more frequent in adults, the main risk occurs in malnutrition contexts and is associated with vitamin A deficiencies, so it is developing countries that usually see mortality associated with this virus. Vaccine. Measles had disappeared from many countries thanks to the effectiveness of the disease vaccine. Measles immunization is done through the known Triple viral vaccine or SPR (for the three diseases that it tries to prevent: measles mumps or mumps, and rubella). The situation of measles in Spain. The situation is very different in Spain: so far from 2025, 110 cases of infection in Spain have been recorded according to the latest data from the National Epidemiology Center (CNE). As recently explained López Perea in an informative session organized by Science Media Center Spain, the cases registered in our country are due to small outbreaks with no more than a dozen cases due to outbreak. Many of these cases are concentrated in Euskadi. The Basque Autonomous Community has counted 41 cases of the disease. The total number of cases implies that we walk to a rebound with respect to 2024, the year in which 217 contagios were recorded, explained Sergio Ferrer, of SMC. Another substantial difference between the American outbreak and the shoots in our country is in the population affected by them. In the case of Spain, cases tend to affect adults and not minors. 95%. Spain has a good vaccination coverage against measles. The 95% figure is usually considered the limit of group immunity for this virus. In other words, a 95% coverage allows to stop the expansion of this virus. In the 2019-20 academic year, the vaccination rate In American nurseries it was 95.2%. Today has passed to 92.7%. In Texas, although the rate is higher than the US average, the figure is still below the 95%brand. According to the CDC data95 % of the cases detected occurred between unaccoured people or whose vaccination status was unknown. The remaining 5% occurred between people with a vaccine of the two that form the complete pattern. In Xataka | The myth of the 37º: we are increasingly clear that there is no “normal” body of the body Image | CDC

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