558 cases of measles have already been diagnosed in South Carolina: “Matter of time before it ends fatally”

Experts fear that the situation could escalate further. “It’s only a matter of time before a very serious or even fatal case occurs,” warned infectious disease specialist Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He emphasized that one in a thousand measles patients dies. According to him, the scale of the outbreak makes it increasingly difficult to stop the spread, especially now that other states are also reporting infections linked to travel to South Carolina.

The number of cases is also rising in North Carolina. Two new infections were identified in Buncombe County, bringing the total there to five. The state has recorded seven cases since December and is calling on parents to check the vaccination status of their children. The resurgence of measles in the United States coincides with declining willingness to vaccinate, partly due to recent changes in the national vaccination schedule.

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Measles is an extremely contagious virus that can remain in the air for up to two hours and cause serious complications such as pneumonia. The current outbreak follows previous major outbreaks in West Texas, Utah and Arizona. Health services emphasize that a vaccination rate of 95% is needed to prevent the spread. “We have a fire raging in South Carolina, and these pockets of low vaccination rates are like flammable material,” said Stacy Ellis Matheson, Buncombe County health director.

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