Measles Cases Hit All-Time U.S. Low

Doctors reported just 301 cases of measles in the United States in 1995, the lowest number since the government began keeping count in 1912.

The number of cases plummeted from 963 in 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The CDC attributed the sharp decline to more school-age children getting a second dose of vaccine.

“We think we can eliminate measles from the United States,” said the CDC’s Dr. Walter Orenstein.

Between April 1994 and March 1995, 33 percent to 50 percent of school-age children received the recommended second dose of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, the CDC said.

Most of the 1995 measles cases were homegrown. Just 3 percent had spread from one state to another, and just 11 percent occurred after the patient had traveled internationally - most often, to Germany, Canada, Italy or Pakistan.

Despite the decline in cases, parents should still vaccinate their children, Orenstein said.