(CTN News) – Children’s measles vaccination rates declined in approximately 80% of over 2,000 U.S. counties after COVID-19.

This week, JAMA released a study from Johns Hopkins University identifying regions of greater vulnerability. The results align with national and state trends:

Routine childhood vaccinations are declining in prevalence. “The significant declines are not immediately evident at the state or national level.”

They are present. Lauren Gardner, the principal author of the report and an expert in infectious disease modeling at Johns Hopkins University, stated, “They are both real and exceedingly problematic.” Gardner established the COVID-19 database for the university.

On Friday, 1,088 people without protection got measles vaccinations.

The diffusion among communities is attributed to both domestic and international travel.

This year’s outbreaks have resulted in three fatalities, and 2025 is rapidly approaching the highest incidence of measles-related mortality in nearly thirty years. The Measles Vaccination was eradicated in the United States in 2000, and the vaccination is both safe and very effective.

Despite the mandate for measles vaccine, mumps, and rubella vaccinations to be administered twice prior to kindergarten in public schools across the nation, the number of students exempted from these requirements for non-medical reasons reached an unprecedented level during the 2023–2024 academic year.

Medical professionals assert that to prevent outbreaks, community vaccination rates must exceed 95%. The Johns Hopkins study examined 2,066 counties in 33 states to compare the average kindergarten immunization rates from the 2017–2020 academic years with those from 2022–2024.

The researchers employed a comparable rate in instances where kindergarten data was absent. This is the appearance of counties impacted by epidemics this year, including those in Texas that are epicenters for measles.

The territory of Texas

Since late January, Texas has reported 742 cases of measles, predominantly in West Texas. Gaines County exhibits the highest occurrence in the state, with 411 incidents. Nearly 2 percent of the population was affected by the Measles Vaccination.

Post-pandemic, the county’s vaccination rate increased by two percentage points; nonetheless, at 82.4%, it remains below the threshold for herd immunity.

Post-pandemic, herd immunity levels in Terry County (60 cases) and Yoakum County (20 cases) decreased to 91.8% and 93.7%, respectively, falling below the 95% threshold.

Before the pandemic, the prevalence in Lubbock County, the nearest metropolitan region to Gaines County, was about 95%. However, subsequent to the Measles Vaccination pandemic, it decreased by three percentage points to 91.8%. Fifty-three cases have been reported in Lubbock County.

El Paso County, situated near the Mexican border, reported 57 measles cases this year, ranking third in Texas for the highest incidence. Its immunization rate remains over 95%, despite a decline of 2.1 percentage points to 96.5%.

The state under consideration is Kansas.

Outbreaks are presently occurring in Kansas counties: Stevens (seven cases), Haskell (eleven cases), and Gray (twenty-five incidences).

Post-pandemic, Gray County’s Measles Vaccination rates declined from 94% to 71%, representing a 23 percentage point reduction. The 65% proportion in Haskell County decreased by 18 points. The rate in Stevens County decreased by 0.5 percentage points, reaching 90.5%.

Colorado

Among the six cases in the Colorado outbreak, five are in-state residents and one is an out-of-state traveler linked to an international flight that arrived at Denver airport in mid-May.

Two instances of measles occurred in Arapahoe County, located within the Denver metropolitan area. The immunization rate in this region decreased to 88.4%, reflecting a decline of 3.5 percentage points.

In El Paso County, where Colorado Springs is situated, the post-pandemic Measles Vaccination rate has decreased by 3.8 percentage points to 80%, and three additional individuals reside there.

North Dakota

Researchers at Johns Hopkins analyzed data from the 2022, 2023, and 2024 academic years, despite the unavailability of pre-pandemic data in North Dakota.

Sixteen cases of measles have been detected in Williams County, the location of North Dakota’s inaugural epidemic. Throughout the study period, Williams’ immunization rates rose from 84.6% in 2022 to 87.7% in 2023, thereafter declining to 83.5% in 2024.

The Measles Vaccination rate in Grand Forks County decreased from 95.4% to 93.4% with 10 cases, and Cass County’s rate, with seven cases, has stayed stable at approximately 92.7%.

SOURCE: IN