Measles in the United States, several deaths: "The situation is out of control," why the epidemic is spiraling out of control

A major health crisis to which Donald Trump's health minister, vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr., is accused of significantly contributing by fueling fears about the vaccine. Since the beginning of the year, at least 1,012 cases have been confirmed across 30 of the 50 US states, with Texas accounting for more than 70% of cases, according to public data from local government departments.

"It is the most contagious infectious disease in the world and it is now spreading like wildfire."

And three people died, including two young children, in the southwest of the country, the epicenter of the epidemic. The last infant death in the United States was in 2003, three years after measles was officially declared eradicated there thanks to vaccination. Measles causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and rashes, and in some cases, more serious complications, such as pneumonia and brain inflammation, which can lead to serious damage and death. "It's the most contagious infectious disease in the world, and it's now spreading like wildfire," warns Dr. Offit, for whom the scale of the epidemic is largely underestimated.

More than 3,000 cases according to caregivers

Based on reports from multiple healthcare providers, "the number of cases in the United States could actually be close to 3,000, or even higher," he reports. Many infected people don't go to the doctor "for fear of being forced to get a vaccine or because they don't think they feel bad enough," explains pediatrician Tammy Camp from West Texas, where the majority of cases have been recorded. This underreporting is compounded by the recent layoffs of thousands of U.S. Department of Health employees and drastic funding cuts complicating diagnostic efforts, points out Dr. Offit.

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The outbreak erupted in late January in a rural Texas area home to a Mennonite religious community, an ultraconservative and poorly vaccinated population, reminiscent of the previous major outbreak in 2019—with more than 1,200 cases but no deaths—that occurred in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey.

While the measles vaccine is mandatory in the United States, Americans can obtain an exemption in much of the country, such as Texas, the second most populous state. And the use of these vaccine exemptions has steadily increased in recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, fueled by growing public distrust of health authorities and pharmaceutical companies.

Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. is accused of adding fuel to the fire by spreading false information, such as when he claimed in March on Fox News that the vaccine was "the cause of all the diseases that measles itself causes: encephalitis, blindness, etc." In a different administration, "he would have been asked to leave his post before more children died," Professor Offit fulminates.

On the ground, her comments, which range from minimizing the severity of the situation to questioning the benefits of vaccination and promoting alternative remedies such as vitamin A, are causing some confusion, confirms pediatrician Tammy Camp. Some of the children she examines have symptoms related to excessive intake of vitamin A, a supplement that reduces the risk of complications in malnourished people but can be dangerous in excess, she explains. "We're seeing more and more cases of vaccine-preventable diseases, and it's not going to stop with measles," she warns, citing the recent resurgence of whooping cough, another serious infectious disease.