Cases of measles have skyrocketed in South Carolina, the state facing the largest outbreak in the country as it spreads to three other states. Health officials said 124 cases have been diagnosed since Tuesday, bringing the total to 558 since the outbreak began in October. “We have lost our ability to contain this with the immunity that we have,” Dr. Helmut Albrecht, an infectious disease physician, said in a press conference. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Measles is one of the most infectious diseases on the planet, and the outbreak is centered in Spartanburg County, where children and teenagers make up the majority of cases. Most of them are unvaccinated. On Jan. 5, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a major overhaul of the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, cutting the number of universally recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. The measles vaccine, which is included in the MMR vaccine, is not among the immunizations that have been cut. However, RFK Jr. has long waged a war on vaccines, questioning their safety. MMR vaccination rates have been declining since 2020, slipping below the herd-immunity threshold of 95 percent in 2021. Total childhood vaccination rates are currently as low as 82.5 percent in some parts of South Carolina, and authorities are urging parents to get their children the MMR shot as soon as possible.
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