This Measles Side Effect Can Undo Years of Immunity: Are You Safe?

Drawing of a woman with white hair in a bun and thick glasses dressed as a karate black belt. She is smiling and kicking away shapes that evoke infectious diseases like measles.

Measles may seem like a disease of the past. Indeed, the highly contagious virus was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000 after a full year had passed without any infections. But times have changed.

By July 9, 2025, there had already been 1,288 reported cases of measles across the United States, according to data from the CDC. This is the highest number of cases since 1992, eight years before the disease was eradicated in the U.S.​​