(AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTheir new baby won\u2019t be able to get the shot until at least 6 months \u2014 a prospect that worries parents of infants wherever measles spreads.<\/p>\n
Babies too young to be vaccinated are among the most vulnerable in a measles outbreak. The disease can wreak havoc on their fragile bodies, making them so sick they stop eating and drinking. They can develop pneumonia or brain swelling, and sometimes die. <\/p>\n
Babies depend entirely on herd immunity \u2014 at least 95% of a community must be vaccinated to prevent measles outbreaks. But dropping vaccination rates have eroded protection in South Carolina and across the nation. In Spartanburg County, the outbreak’s epicenter, less than 90% of students have gotten required vaccines. <\/p>\n
\u201cBabies become sitting ducks,\u201d said Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a Columbia pediatrician. \u201cThe burden is on all of us to protect all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
But increasingly, some policymakers and officials push a view of vaccination as an issue of individual freedom and parents’ rights, rather than one of public health to safeguard the population as a whole. <\/p>\n
At the federal level, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine crusader, has sought to remake vaccine policy and oversaw billions in public health cuts. And though a temporary ruling from a federal judge has slowed his momentum, a raft of bills has been introduced in states, including South Carolina, that threaten to further reduce vaccination rates.<\/p>\n
South Carolina\u2019s measles outbreak, totaling about 1,000 cases, has slowed. But measles is spreading in many states, with 17 outbreaks this year and 48 last year, and the U.S. on the verge of losing its status as a country that has eliminated measles. <\/p>\n
Doctors work to protect the youngest against measles<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Dr. Jessica Early never thought she\u2019d have to deal with measles, but the pediatrician feared for her patients and her own baby when it popped up in her Greer community. She and other doctors began offering an approved infant MMR dose as early as 6 months old. Her practice also started giving the second MMR dose \u2014 usually for ages 4 to 6 years old \u2014 early. <\/p>\n
To the chagrin of many doctors, no one knows how many South Carolina infants have gotten measles or been hospitalized by it.<\/p>\n
State officials will disclose only that 253 of the 997 cases were among children 4 and younger; they say they won\u2019t break cases down further for confidentiality reasons. It\u2019s not uncommon to group statistics this way.<\/p>\n
Officials also don\u2019t know exactly how many infants were hospitalized with the virus because, as in some other states, hospitals aren’t required to report measles-related admissions.<\/p>\n
Across the state, doctors said they got many questions about whether it was safe to bring infants to waiting rooms or day care.<\/p>\n
Thomas Compton \u2014 regional director of Miss Tammy\u2019s Little Learning Center, a child care network operating across the outbreak region \u2014 said 18 parents pulled children out of his facilities, though they had no confirmed cases. Some abandoned deposits days before their kids were scheduled to start, forcing the company to lay off a teacher.<\/p>\n
Although licensed day cares must require vaccines under state law, families can easily get religious exemptions. About a fifth of Miss Tammy’s 300 children have vaccine waivers.<\/p>\n
When measles surged, Compton said state officials gave little guidance. His staff scrubbed down surfaces, as they did when COVID-19 was raging; tracked local measles cases on Facebook; and relied on Google for information about the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of parents were really stressed out,\u201d Compton said. \u201cAnytime that we had a little sickness going on or something, they were like, \u2018Do you think it\u2019s the measles?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
State legislation would prohibit vaccines for children under 2<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Last year, an Associated Press<\/em> investigation found that Trump administration officials were directing activists to push anti-science legislation in statehouses. Nationally, around 350 anti-vaccine bills were introduced as of late October, AP found, including at least eight in South Carolina. <\/p>\nThis year, a state bill would prohibit requiring vaccines for children under 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other words, it would get rid of those requirements in the day cares,\u201d pediatrician Greenhouse said. \u201cAnd for people like me, that is a gut punch that is terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a subcommittee discussion, Republican State Sen. Carlisle Kennedy said his bill aims to protect parents\u2019 rights. His baby was born in August without working kidneys and got vaccines on a personalized schedule, in coordination with doctors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to put vaccines in his body before his body was able to survive them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Opponents countered that herd immunity protects children in these situations.<\/p>\n
The Senate subcommittee advanced the legislation. Greenhouse fears it has momentum.<\/p>\n
“In the climate that we are currently living in, I think any bill potentially could have legs,” she said. \u201cIt is our job to do our absolute best to make sure that those legs don\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether the bill becomes law, doctors say this sort of legislation fuels vaccine skepticism and confusion. While the American Academy of Pediatrics advises giving babies all the vaccines they\u2019ve gotten for years, some parents tell Greenhouse they know the government has called for fewer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t actually know who they can trust,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
South Carolina, like other states, has made nonmedical vaccine exemptions easier to get, noted Dr. Martha Edwards, president of the state’s American Academy of Pediatrics chapter. In the outbreak’s epicenter, religious exemptions have more than doubled since 2020. Statewide, 4% of school-age students have such exemptions in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
\u201cParental choice is a big buzzword in a lot of the Southern states,\u201d Edwards said. But the choice not to vaccinate, she said, impacts other parents\u2019 rights to keep their children safe.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, protection fades as measles spreads<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Doctors expect things will only get worse.<\/p>\n
In the first three months of 2026, the U.S. logged 1,671 measles cases. That\u2019s 73% of the total from 2025, the worst year for the virus in more than three decades. In November, international health officials will determine whether measles is still considered eliminated in the U.S.<\/p>\n
National MMR vaccination rates \u2013 which dropped to 92.5% among kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year, from 95.2% in 2019-20 \u2013 obscure much lower rates in certain communities. At one Spartanburg County school, 21% of kids received all required vaccines.<\/p>\n
Doctors worry it\u2019s just a matter of time before all sorts of vaccine-preventable diseases threaten lives like they did a century ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole concept of immunization is one of the best things that has ever happened to medicine,\u201d Greenhouse said. \u201cTo see that we are actually going backwards is just confounding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen Kaiser, who lives in the outbreak area, vaccinated her twin 2-year-old boys early to protect them and the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never forgive myself,\u201d she said, \u201cif I knew that my son had gotten another baby very sick and it was something I could have prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more With baby Arthur too young for the measles vaccine and a sibling due in June, the Otwells grew nervous when the threat of the highly contagious virus started affecting their grocery run. \u201cWe go to the Costco that was kind of a hotbed,\u201d said John Otwell after his state health department’s warnings of public exposures at the store. \u201cA lot of people just don\u2019t get it; they think it\u2019s just a cold. It\u2019s not.\u201d By Arthur\u2019s 9-month checkup, the South Carolina outbreak had exploded into the nation’s worst in more than 35 years, surpassing last year’s in Texas. That meant that under state guidance, Arthur could get his first dose of the MMR vaccine \u2014 for measles, mumps and rubella \u2014 earlier than the usual 12 to 15 months old. By Arthur\u2019s 9-month checkup, the South Carolina outbreak had exploded into the nation’s worst in more than 35 years, surpassing last year’s in Texas (AP) Their new baby won\u2019t be able to get the shot until at least 6 months \u2014 a prospect that worries parents of infants wherever…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}