Measles cases reach 35-year high: What doctors and hospitals should do

If there’s any solace to the disturbing climb in measles cases in 2026, the numbers are well below the more than 9,600 cases reported in 1991.

That’s about the end of the good news.

With more than five months remaining this year, there are now 2,321 measles cases in the U.S. according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s the highest number since 1991, already topping the 2,289 cases in 2025, which had been the most in more than three decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 2,318 cases.

Dr. Margot Savoy, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Family Physicians, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that the high number of measles cases reflect the decline in vaccinations. She says the outbreaks over the past two years are also giving physicians experience in treating an illness that had been virtually eradicated.

“I hadn't seen a case of measles in my whole career,” she says. “Now all of a sudden they're everywhere.”

Savoy spoke with Chief Healthcare Executive® about the rise in measles cases and what doctors and health systems should be doing to deal with the rising cases.

• Read more: Family doctors face more vaccine confusion

Who is getting measles

Measles, as Americans are discovering yet again, is a very contagious illness.

While many are familiar with the rash of measles and symptoms similar to the flu, measles can lead to pneumonia and lead to lasting complications. The disease can be fatal, Savoy says. Three deaths were tied to the measles in 2015, the first measles deaths in 10 years.

This year, nearly half (49%) of reported cases are between 5 and 19 years old, and one in five (20%) of cases involve children under 5 years of age, according to the CDC.

Where the cases are

South Carolina leads the nation, with more than 600 cases in and around Spartanburg, according to Johns Hopkins. Utah is second, with more than 500 cases.

Texas, Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona follow, with well over 100 cases in each state.

“Usually, it's because there's a pocket of people who are not vaccinated for one reason or another,” Savoy says. “So figuring out what is driving that in the first place is really important in helping to educate and move those folks forward in whatever that community happens to be.”

Managing patients

Health systems, hospitals, and physician practices need to get a message out to patients, Savoy says. They shouldn’t just be showing up at a clinic or emergency room if they think they - or their kids - have the measles.

“When you bring that person with measles in the building, you're just exposing everyone around, and that exposure doesn't go away immediately after you leave the space,” she says. “It sticks around for a while.”

Practices and health systems should tell patients to call in first to describe the symptoms.

“Remind people: Listen, just call first, take a picture of the rash, let us take a look at it first. Or if you are coming into the office, let us meet you in the parking lot … That way, we make sure we're not exposing everyone else in the building,” Savoy says.

Health systems can encourage patients and families to set up virtual appointments, where doctors can see suspicious rashes without exposing other patients.

“This is a perfect moment for a telehealth visit,” she says.

Health systems also need to think about messaging for patients, especially some who may be confused when they are told not to come to a clinic or hospital right away.

Savoy says clinics should send the message: “It's not that I want you to stay home and suffer. I want you to call so that we can do X, Y, or Z.”

Health systems should help patients understand that measles cases can begin with symptoms such as a fever, coughing or runny nose. Savoy urges clinics to help patients understand the stages.

“The rash isn't the first thing that happens,” she says.

Preparing systems and clinics

If health systems and practices don’t have ample supplies of protective gear, Savoy says they should stock up. Clinics should make sure they have equipment in their offices, for measles and other outbreaks.

“I think people got very vigilant during COVID and let that slide a little bit,” she says. “And there's still things going around for which you need to be protected and ready. And so keeping your office readiness up to speed and making sure that you know what you need to do becomes really important.”

Many physicians and caregivers aren’t familiar with the measles, so health systems and practices should make sure they are educating their staff on symptoms and procedures.

“I think sometimes the nurses and the doctors haven't seen this necessarily either,” Savoy says.

“For a lot of people, this is just not something that they see in regular practice. And so reminding all of us of what we're looking for, keeping it on the top of your mind,” she says.

Health systems and physicians must be quick to talk to their local public health departments and tell them what they are seeing.

“There's a lot of approaches that we can take together as a public health and a primary care infrastructure, where together we actually do better for the community than either one of us alone,” Savoy says. “This is one of those really great opportunities, and health systems can be a great driver of that.”

Educating the public

Health systems and doctors should educate the public in understanding the potency of the measles, so they understand it’s not a harmless malady.

“I think that people think about it like it's a childhood disease, and that makes it feel less scary than it maybe really is. So it sort of gets downgraded a little bit in your head because you're like, oh, children survive that all the time,” Savoy says.

She points out that for some, measles can lead to neurological problems in the future.

“Actually, there were some pretty bad consequences when people had measles running rampant, and sometimes it wasn't even the immediate time,” she says. “You can have long-term problems with brain and mental health, like years and years later from a measles infection. And so there's a good reason why you want to prevent it in the first place.”

And that’s why Savoy and other doctors spend time talking about why people should get the measles vaccine.

“There's other things besides just dying from the immediate infection that can happen to folks who are infected with measles,” she says.

Savoy also says health systems should take care to help patients make good decisions, which can be harder when they are scared for their kids.“The hope is that your clinicians are not scared, they just recognize what it is, and they're prepared,” Savoy says. “And in being prepared, they're able to help you manage.”

Savoy also has guidance for patients.

“The way that you can help us manage is by calling ahead, letting us know what you're concerned about, getting a little bit of heads up,” she says. “Your primary care physician can help do this. I mean, you don't necessarily have to go straight to the ER. Just call them, and they'd be able to tell you how to best triage, and even if you did need to go to the hospital, could help arrange that to make sure that we were minimizing exposure, both in your house, but also the space that you might have to go into from a clinic or from an office perspective, or even the hospital if that's where you needed to go.”