Measles Outbreak

[Anonymous]

You can have breakthrough cases even if immunized, and these may be milder. But the 93% (one dose) and 97% (two dose) failure rates are true failures.

https://www.cdc.gov/pinkbook/hcp/table-of-contents/chapter-13-measles.html

Measles antibodies develop in approximately 95% of children vaccinated at age 12 months. Seroconversion rates are similar for single-antigen measles, MMR vaccine, and MMRV vaccine. Approximately 2% to 7% of children who receive only 1 dose of MMR vaccine fail to respond to it, i.e., they experience primary vaccine failure. MMR vaccine failure can occur because of passive antibody in the vaccine recipient, immaturity of the immune system, damaged vaccine, or other reasons. Most persons who fail to respond to the first dose will respond to a second dose. Studies indicate that more than 99% of persons who receive 2 doses of measles vaccine (with the first dose administered no earlier than the first birthday) develop serologic evidence of measles immunity.

Primary vaccine failure is the failure to mount an immune response and develop antibodies, NOT a "partial response" -- a failure of response. There are more details at the link, and if you have more questions, I'd advise to read there first.

The second place to go would be an overview such as this:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X18304857

A framework for research on vaccine effectiveness

2. Vaccine failure models (Table 1)

2.1. Primary vaccine failure (“All-or-None”)

Vaccine protection and failure are two sides of the same coin, but understanding how vaccines fail is a relatively under-explored area. Traditionally, vaccines were thought to generate life-long immunity, with a small proportion of vaccinees not protected because the vaccine did not “take” (“all-or-none”). This is considered “primary vaccine failure” and is frequently associated with live virus vaccines such as measles, mumps and rubella vaccines [7].

2.2. Secondary vaccine failure

In contrast, “secondary vaccine failure” refers to waning vaccine immunity in which protection decays with time. For example, in the absence of circulating pathogen, humoral protection might be expected to wane exponentially [8], [9]. Secondary failure has traditionally been more associated with inactivated, subunit, and toxoid vaccines (e.g., pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus).

[7] S.L. Deeks, G.H. Lim, M.A. Simpson, L. Gagné, J. Gubbay, E. Kristjanson, et al.
An assessment of mumps vaccine effectiveness by dose during an outbreak in Canada
CMAJ, 183 (9) (2011), pp. 1014-1020, 10.1503/cmaj.101371

[8] M.B. van Ravenhorst, A.B. Marinovic, F.R. van der Klis, D.M. van Rooijen, M. van Maurik, S.P. Stoof, et al.
Long-term persistence of protective antibodies in Dutch adolescents following a meningococcal serogroup C tetanus booster vaccination
Vaccine, 34 (50) (2016), pp. 6309-6315, 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.10.049

[9] P.F. Teunis, J.C. van Eijkeren, W.F. de Graaf, A.B. Marinović, M.E. Kretzschmar
Linking the seroresponse to infection to within-host heterogeneity in antibody production
Epidemics, 16 (2016), pp. 33-39, 10.1016/j.epidem.2016.04.001

That article identifies that although measles remains the classic context for primary vaccine failure, OTHER live attenuated virus vaccines (specifically, mumps and rubella) demonstrate both primary and secondary models of vaccine failure -- but not measles.

[Anonymous]

^^ That should read:

"You can have breakthrough cases even if immunized, and these may be milder. But the [failure rates associated with the efficacy rates of] 93% (one dose) and 97% (two dose) failure rates are true failures."

[Anonymous]

And for more fun times brought by the anti-vaxxers, note that getting the second dose early may be helpful, but it's demonstrated not to be as effective.

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article-abstract/55/3/394/614245

Risk of Measles When the First Dose of a 2-Dose Schedule of Measles Vaccine Is Given at 12–14 Months Versus 15 Months of Age

Despite compliance with the recommended 2-dose measles immunization schedule, 6% of high school students were susceptible during this outbreak. Residual susceptibility was 2–4-fold higher among 2-dose recipients who had received the first dose of vaccine prior to 15 months of age. If confirmed in other settings, these results suggest that administration of the first dose of measles vaccine before 15 months of age may not be optimal for measles elimination efforts.

[Anonymous]

“CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.

Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-amid-growing-outbreaks-nationwide/

[Anonymous]

“CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.

Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-amid-growing-outbreaks-nationwide/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.

Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-amid-growing-outbreaks-nationwide/

Measles is SO contagious that the failure rate for vaccines means exponential growth when it breaks through herd immunity. It's like living in a house where the only fires are contained: the fire in the woodburning stove that is surrounded by brick, the gas flame on the stove which is separated from everything else by metal, and is highly controlled. But the problem is that when you have enough unvaccinated in the population, the house is made of paper -- whereas an escaping flame would have burned out quickly on a tile floor, now it hits cardboard, and the whole thing goes up quickly.

Anti-vaccination is terrifying. Its proponents are so sure they understand what is going on, but each time they get countered by actual reality and science-based information, they disappear. But they are always ready to assert superiority again, and again, and again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.

Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-amid-growing-outbreaks-nationwide/

Measles is SO contagious that the failure rate for vaccines means exponential growth when it breaks through herd immunity. It's like living in a house where the only fires are contained: the fire in the woodburning stove that is surrounded by brick, the gas flame on the stove which is separated from everything else by metal, and is highly controlled. But the problem is that when you have enough unvaccinated in the population, the house is made of paper -- whereas an escaping flame would have burned out quickly on a tile floor, now it hits cardboard, and the whole thing goes up quickly.

Anti-vaccination is terrifying. Its proponents are so sure they understand what is going on, but each time they get countered by actual reality and science-based information, they disappear. But they are always ready to assert superiority again, and again, and again.

All the more reason why vaccines are critical and why the anti-vaxxers need to shove it where the sun don't shine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“CBS News has tracked more than 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide in 2026, which is approximately half of what was recorded in all of 2025.

Three years ago at this time, there were only two cases of the highly contagious virus, according to the CDC.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/measles-cases-at-university-in-florida-soar-amid-growing-outbreaks-nationwide/

Measles is SO contagious that the failure rate for vaccines means exponential growth when it breaks through herd immunity. It's like living in a house where the only fires are contained: the fire in the woodburning stove that is surrounded by brick, the gas flame on the stove which is separated from everything else by metal, and is highly controlled. But the problem is that when you have enough unvaccinated in the population, the house is made of paper -- whereas an escaping flame would have burned out quickly on a tile floor, now it hits cardboard, and the whole thing goes up quickly.

Anti-vaccination is terrifying. Its proponents are so sure they understand what is going on, but each time they get countered by actual reality and science-based information, they disappear. But they are always ready to assert superiority again, and again, and again.

No kidding. The combo of superiority and stupidity is going to wreak a lot of damage. And the thing is that over time immunity can fade in some people.

Anti-vaxxers are operating on the Covid model where the strains have weakened over time and there was so much we didn’t know about it. Measles is completely different and very very well understood.

[Anonymous]

'the quack internet sites know more than thousands of PhD's and MD's around the world"

[Anonymous]

"If your children are vaccinated, why do you care?"

Because you have no idea how all of this works.

"You can only control yourself."

Actually, when it comes to public health, we do have more avenues. We also have the court of public opinion. We will continue to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a good idea to be flying with kids these days unless they have had the MMR (dose 1--around one year and dose 2 around 4 years). I would not travel unless absolutely necessary for something like a family move.

If traveling internationally, they recommend an additional dose at 6-12 mos. Both my kids had this. Wonder if they will now start recommending this for domestic travel...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a good idea to be flying with kids these days unless they have had the MMR (dose 1--around one year and dose 2 around 4 years). I would not travel unless absolutely necessary for something like a family move.

If traveling internationally, they recommend an additional dose at 6-12 mos. Both my kids had this. Wonder if they will now start recommending this for domestic travel...

They recommend an early initial dose plus the regulars at 12-15 most and 4-6 years? Just trying to understand what you mean by "additional"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"If your children are vaccinated, why do you care?"

Because you have no idea how all of this works.

"You can only control yourself."

Actually, when it comes to public health, we do have more avenues. We also have the court of public opinion. We will continue to use it.

Herd immunity protects those who cannot be vaccinated. I care about those people. When we no longer have herd immunity, the people I care about are at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"If your children are vaccinated, why do you care?"

Because you have no idea how all of this works.

"You can only control yourself."

Actually, when it comes to public health, we do have more avenues. We also have the court of public opinion. We will continue to use it.

Herd immunity protects those who cannot be vaccinated. I care about those people. When we no longer have herd immunity, the people I care about are at risk.

It also protects those affected by the vaccine failure rate. Even with 2 vaccinations given at appropriate times, approximately 0.3-3% will have failure to respond. Assume conservatively it's 1%.

VA, MD, and DC have a combined population of about 15.5 million. Even if literally everyone there was vaccinated, the failure rate would leave somewhere around 150,000 or more people unprotected.

Across the country, that would be about 3.5 million people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a good idea to be flying with kids these days unless they have had the MMR (dose 1--around one year and dose 2 around 4 years). I would not travel unless absolutely necessary for something like a family move.

If traveling internationally, they recommend an additional dose at 6-12 mos. Both my kids had this. Wonder if they will now start recommending this for domestic travel...

They recommend an early initial dose plus the regulars at 12-15 most and 4-6 years? Just trying to understand what you mean by "additional"?

DP. I think the PP is referring to this recommendation:

The recommended age for the first dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is 12 to 15 months of age.

If you live in or plan to travel to a community experiencing an outbreak, or if you travel internationally, your baby may be vaccinated as early as 6 months of age. Check recommendations from the state or local health department and talk with your pediatrician if this applies to you. (See International travel tips for families with young children below.)

...

International travel tips for families with young children

Babies younger than age 6 months are too young to get the vaccinate but may have some protection from antibodies passed to them during pregnancy. (See "How Do Vaccines Work?") Consider delaying travel to locations with measles outbreaks to avoid risks of severe illness.

Babies age 6 to 11 months old should receive their first MMR vaccine dose at least two weeks before traveling. They will still need the 2-dose series if they received a dose before age 12 months.

Babies 12 months and older should receive their first dose of MMR vaccine in addition to the other vaccines recommended at that age. Infants 12 months and older should receive a second dose of the MMR vaccine 28 days after the first dose.

Before traveling, check for health advisories on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travel Health Notices webpage. Depending on your travel destination and the activities you have planned, other vaccines may also be recommended.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Protecting-Your-Baby-from-a-Measles-Outbreak-FAQs.aspx