SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - "One of the things we're seeing is that we've reached a [Measles] caseload that's higher than we had last year in the entire year," says Dr. Rachel Orscheln, a WashU Medicine infectious disease specialist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, "and so I think we can expect that we're going to see increasing cases." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 2,318 measles cases in 2026 as of late July, surpassing the total of 2,289 cases recorded for all of 2025. "We are seeing more and more cases in our community," adds Orscheln, who says she's concerned, "and so if children are unvaccinated, they can be at risk for that infection. "
Orscheln tells KMOX's Total Information AM, there's a direct correlation between lower vaccine rates and more Measles cases. "If we are continuing to see a decline in childhood vaccination, that could be the perfect set up for Measles transmission in the school setting."
Orscheln points out there's no anti-viral treatment for measles. Measles starts like a regular respiratory virus, then patients develop the tell-tale rash. Some patients develop more serious and potentially deadly conditions like pneumonia and encephalitis.
A Measles infection also puts children at risk down the road. "We know that Measles can induce an immune amnesia so kids that Measles can develop further infections related to that."
She says compared to past measles outbreaks that originated outside the US... most cases right now are domestic in origin.
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