Results
Only six of the 54 hospitalized patients had an underlying medical condition that could have put them at higher risk. None of the 54 hospitalized patients was immunocompromised.
Of the 54 hospitalized, 47 (87 percent) developed a measles complication, including 39 (72 percent) who developed pneumonia, 25 (46 percent) had dehydration, and 21 (39 percent) developed diarrhea. Seventeen (31.5 percent) patients developed coinfections with other pathogens, a known risk with measles, and 28 (52 percent) were treated with antibiotics.
Thirty-eight (70.4 percent) patients required supplemental oxygen to breathe. Thirty-seven (68.5 percent) experienced hypoxia, which is insufficient levels of oxygen to sustain the body. Four of the hospitalized patients, all children, required treatment in an intensive care unit. Three had dehydration. Two required intubation and mechanical ventilation. A child died.
(There was a second infant death in the Texas outbreak, but it occurred after the study period and was not included.)
Of the five adults, four were pregnant women. Two of them gave birth during their hospitalizations and both of their babies were diagnosed with active cases of measles. One infant experienced symptoms suggestive of acute measles meningoencephalitis and was hospitalized weeks later, outside the study period.
With all this, the authors concluded that “although many cases of measles are mild, approximately one in five people with confirmed measles in this outbreak required hospitalization for pneumonia, dehydration or other complications, including rare cases of severe illness or death. Measles vaccination remains a critical tool, both in routine and outbreak settings, for the prevention of measles infections, severe illness and hospitalizations.”
In 2025, the United States recorded 2,288 cases of measles overall, the highest total since 1991. We are not even six months into 2026, and the country is already close to reaching that number; As of May 28, the US has reported 1983 confirmed measles cases in 40 jurisdictions. There have been 30 new outbreaks since the beginning of the year. Overall, the country is on track to lose its measles elimination status.
