Nearly one-third of U.S. measles cases reported since 2020 have occurred this year, the CDC said in an April 11 report.
Between Jan. 1, 2020, and March 28, 2024, the CDC confirmed 338 measles cases, 29% of which were reported in the first quarter of this year. This figure marks a more than seventeenfold increase over the mean number of cases reported in the first quarters of 2020-23.
Among these cases, 91% of patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, and the median patient age was 3.
While the risk for widespread measles transmission remains low, the rapid increase in cases this year "represents a renewed threat to elimination," the CDC said.
See the full report here.