The measles vaccine rates fall in hundreds of American counties after the pandemic

The infantile vaccination rates against measles have dropped in the years that followed the COVVI -19 pandemic in almost 80% of the more than 2,000 American counties with available data – including in the states that are fight epidemics This year.

A study by Johns Hopkins University, Posted in Jama this weekillustrious where the more vulnerable communities are. The results reflect the trends established to State And national levels: Routine childhood vaccination rate fall.

“When you look at the level of the state or the national level … You really do not see these drastic drops. These are there. They are real and they are really problematic,” said Lauren Gardner, an expert in modeling infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University who is the main author of the newspaper. Gardner has also built the COVVI-19 database of the University.

Most cases of measles in the United States this year – 1,088 nationally on Friday – are in non -vaccinated people. He has broadcast among communities due to International and interior trips. Three people died of measles During this year epidemics, and 2025 is close to The worst for measles in more than three decades.

Measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000 and The vaccine is safe and very effective. Public schools in the country require two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine before kindergarten, but the number of children with Non -medical exemptions From these requirements reached a record level during the 2023-2024 school year. Health experts say that vaccination at community level must be 95% or more to prevent epidemics.

The study by Johns Hopkins examined 2,066 counties in 33 states, comparing kindergarten vaccination rates on average during school years from 2017 to 2010 to averages from 2022 to 2024. Where kindergarten data were not available, researchers used a comparable rate.

This is what it looks like in the counties where there were epidemics this year, including in Texas counties who are the epicenter of measles.

Texas

Texas Recorded 742 cases of measles since the end of January, most of them west of Texas.

The county of sheaths has 411 cases, the most in the state. Almost 2% of its population obtained measles. While the county experienced two percentage of vaccination rates after the pandemic, its rate of 82.4% remains under the immunity of the herd.

The county of Terry (60 cases) and the county of Yoakum (20 cases) fell below the threshold of 95% for the immunity of the herd after the pandemic, at 93.7% and 91.8% respectively.

The county of Lubbock – which experienced 53 cases and is the closest metropolitan area to the county of Gaines – was just below 95% before the pandemic, but dropped with three percentage points after 91.8%.

County of El Paso on the border of Mexico Had the third cases of the most measles in Texas this year with 57. Its vaccination rate is greater than 95%, but has dropped 2.1 for percentage to 96.5%.

Kansas

Counties with epidemics Kansas Include gray with 25 boxes, haskell with 11 and Stevens with seven.

Vaccination rates in Gray County fell 23 percentage points after the pandemic, from 94% to 71%.

The county of Haskell fell 18 percentage points to 65%. And the county of Stevens fell 0.5 percentage points to 90.5%.

Colorado

The Colorado epidemic, linked to an international flight that landed at Denver airport in mid-May, involves seven cases: six in state residents and a traveler outside the state.

Two people who obtained measles live in the county of Arapahoe in the Denver metro, where the vaccination rate dropped from 3.5 percentage points to 88.4%. Three others live in the county of El Paso, which houses Colorado Springs, where the vaccination rate has dropped 3.8 percentage points to 80% post-pandemic.

North Dakota

Pre-Pandemic data in Northern Dakota were not available for researchers from Johns Hopkins, but they examined the levels of school years ending in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The first epidemic of the North Dakota began in the county of Williams, which now has 16 cases of measles. Within the period, the researchers examined, the vaccination rates in Williams increased from 84.6% in 2022 to 87.7% in 2023, to return to 83.5% in 2024.

The County of Cass has seven cases, and its rate remained stable at around 92.7%, while the county of Grand Forks, which has 10 cases of measles, increased from 95.4%to 93.4%.

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