Back-to-school season expected to worsen record measles outbreak

With kids returning to school amid the worst year of measles in more than 30 years and a record number of children report exemptions from vaccines, the likelihood that the spread of measles will worsen is all but certain according to public health leaders.

The majority of U.S. public schools will have begun their 2026-27 academic years by the end of August, and students will be returning as the country has recorded nearly 3,000 measles cases across 47 jurisdictions and 36 new outbreaks this year.

The number of measles cases this year has marked the worst seen in the country in 35 years, with last year already having been one of the poorest in recent history. Public health are anticipating the return to school to worsen the current spread of the disease.

“Because of the situation that we are finding ourselves in, we can definitely anticipate seeing more of what we’ve seen all year long,” Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), told The Hill. “There’s nothing that I can think of that’s going to stem the tide of what we’ve experienced, the only thing that’s going to turn it back is by addressing people’s fears about immunization, vaccination, and getting people vaccinated.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, directed blame toward the Trump administration for politicizing vaccines.

“The worst part about this two-year surge in measles is that it was completely avoidable,” Weingarten said in a statement to The Hill. “Instead of trusting pediatricians, the science and the data, this administration turned vaccine hesitancy into........

© The Hill