Infectious Disease Specialist: World Post-Herd Immunity to Measles

According to one top scientist, the world may be "post-herd immunity" to measles, despite a recent wave of global infections.

Leading immunologist Dr. Paul Offit, an expert in infectious disease and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Guardian, that "we are living in a post-herd-immunity world."

"I think the measles outbreak proves that," he said, as the United States is experiencing the largest measles outbreak in a quarter-century.

Offit argues that measles is the "first to come back" because it is the most contagious of "vaccine-preventable diseases."

Herd Immunity, according to the Cleveland Clinic, "refers to enough people being immune to a disease that the infection can’t spread from one person to another."

The CDC has reported, as of May 1,935 confirmed cases of measles across the country. Of those cases, 285 children have been hospitalized. Many of the cases have been cited in areas with large populations of the religious Mennonite community.

According to the CDC, additional outbreaks in Canada and Mexico account for the large majority of measles cases. The World Health Organization said measles cases increased ten-fold in Europe in 2024.

Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed the MMR vaccine to prevent measles, but has spearheaded new safety surveillance systems for vaccines and has claimed both antibiotics and steroids have led to "miraculous and instantaneous recovery" from the measles.

• CDC: 935 Confirmed Measles Cases in 29 States
• US at Tipping Point for Return of Endemic Measles