By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 10, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL
A health worker administers a measles vaccine in Montenegro in 2020. A decline in inoculation rates has been attributed to a range of factors including Covid-19 misinformation - Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Olafur Steinar Gestsson
The U.S. is facing its largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years, with at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 36 states and Washington, D.C. Two Virginia Tech experts have pinpointed the reason why the disease is spreading so quickly, as well as advising how to stop it.
Measles is an airborne disease (caused by a morbillivirus of the paramyxovirus family) which spreads easily from one person to the next through the coughs and sneezes of infected people. Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth.
The main complications of measles are of the respiratory tract or central nervous system and include:Otitis media.
Pneumonia, pneumonitis, and tracheobronchitis.
Convulsions, encephalitis, and blindness.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a rare but serious complication affecting about 1 in 25,000 people with measles).
“In 2000, measles was considered to be eliminated in the U.S., but now it’s back and that’s because vaccination rates have dropped,” Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech environmental engineer and leading expert in aerosol virus transmission, says in a research note.
Marr, who studies flu transmission and was highly cited during the COVID-19 pandemic, says measles spreads much like COVID-19 — through microscopic respiratory particles that can hang in the air for hours. “The virus can survive in these particles and linger in the air, long after the infected person has left the room. Then someone else can breathe in the particles and become infected,” she said.
Marr points to an older but striking case. “In the 1980s, unvaccinated patients caught measles after being in a paediatrician’s office one hour after an infected patient had been there.”
She adds that, unlike some viruses where weather seems to play a role, the spread of measles is largely driven by human behaviour, especially gatherings and travel.
A second researcher, Lisa M. Lee, who is an infectious disease epidemiologist at Virginia Tech, underscores just how contagious the disease is. “It’s much more transmissible than COVID-19,” she said. “One person with measles can infect up to 20 others if they’re not vaccinated or haven’t had the disease before.”
Prevention
“The most effective way to stop the spread is to ensure at least 95% of a community is fully vaccinated,” Lee recommends. “That level of coverage is what it takes to protect everyone, especially children who are the most vulnerable.”
Doctors recommend two doses of the vaccine — the first at 12 months of age and the second between ages 4 and 6 years. Adults who never had the vaccine or the disease can still get immunized.
“Together, these two doses are 97% effective. Even having just the first in the series provides about 93% protection,” observes Lee.
Lee reiterates how it is important now that measles is circulating again to reconsider being vaccinated. As the U.S. faces this alarming uptick in cases, Lee urges one clear solution: “protect yourself and your community by getting vaccinated.”
A health worker administers a measles vaccine in Montenegro in 2020. A decline in inoculation rates has been attributed to a range of factors including Covid-19 misinformation - Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Olafur Steinar Gestsson
The U.S. is facing its largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years, with at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 36 states and Washington, D.C. Two Virginia Tech experts have pinpointed the reason why the disease is spreading so quickly, as well as advising how to stop it.
Measles is an airborne disease (caused by a morbillivirus of the paramyxovirus family) which spreads easily from one person to the next through the coughs and sneezes of infected people. Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth.
The main complications of measles are of the respiratory tract or central nervous system and include:Otitis media.
Pneumonia, pneumonitis, and tracheobronchitis.
Convulsions, encephalitis, and blindness.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a rare but serious complication affecting about 1 in 25,000 people with measles).
“In 2000, measles was considered to be eliminated in the U.S., but now it’s back and that’s because vaccination rates have dropped,” Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech environmental engineer and leading expert in aerosol virus transmission, says in a research note.
Marr, who studies flu transmission and was highly cited during the COVID-19 pandemic, says measles spreads much like COVID-19 — through microscopic respiratory particles that can hang in the air for hours. “The virus can survive in these particles and linger in the air, long after the infected person has left the room. Then someone else can breathe in the particles and become infected,” she said.
Marr points to an older but striking case. “In the 1980s, unvaccinated patients caught measles after being in a paediatrician’s office one hour after an infected patient had been there.”
She adds that, unlike some viruses where weather seems to play a role, the spread of measles is largely driven by human behaviour, especially gatherings and travel.
A second researcher, Lisa M. Lee, who is an infectious disease epidemiologist at Virginia Tech, underscores just how contagious the disease is. “It’s much more transmissible than COVID-19,” she said. “One person with measles can infect up to 20 others if they’re not vaccinated or haven’t had the disease before.”
Prevention
“The most effective way to stop the spread is to ensure at least 95% of a community is fully vaccinated,” Lee recommends. “That level of coverage is what it takes to protect everyone, especially children who are the most vulnerable.”
Doctors recommend two doses of the vaccine — the first at 12 months of age and the second between ages 4 and 6 years. Adults who never had the vaccine or the disease can still get immunized.
“Together, these two doses are 97% effective. Even having just the first in the series provides about 93% protection,” observes Lee.
Lee reiterates how it is important now that measles is circulating again to reconsider being vaccinated. As the U.S. faces this alarming uptick in cases, Lee urges one clear solution: “protect yourself and your community by getting vaccinated.”
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