SUPERIOR, Wis. (Northern News Now) – Across the country, students are traveling for spring break, just as measles cases spike in 15 states.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there have been 222 cases of measles, including one confirmed death so far this year.
With spring break beginning, some are keeping it close to home.
“I’m sticking around but, could be worse. I have some school stuff to work on,” said UW-Superior Senior Jake Edwards. “In this post-Covid pandemic era, you never know what’s in the air so it’s never a bad thing to miss out on some nasty stuff.”
According to the CDC, Wisconsin is one of the least vaccinated states against measles, which prompted the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to provide an update on how infectious the disease is.
“If one person gets infected, up to 90% of those in close contact with them can be infected as well,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jasmine Zapata.
According to the Wisconsin DHS, In the last decade, measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates in Wisconsin have dropped 4% in kids two years of age or younger, but there hasn’t been an outbreak (three or more cases) since 2021.
“It definitely makes us vulnerable,” said Zapata. “If there’s individuals living in areas that have lower vaccination rates, that is the number one reason that they should make sure they are up to date on all their vaccinations.”
One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles and two doses are 97% effective.
Dosage is unique for each person, so the DHS urges each individual to speak with their primary health provider to see what’s best for them.
If you’re not sure you’re up to date on your measles vaccinations you can check with the Wisconsin Immunization Registry.
Along with getting MMR vaccinations, Dr. Zapata says they are building off lessons learned from COVID-19 in hopes of keeping the measles outbreak contained.
“Post-Covid I kind of take everything in terms of viral outbreaks in the country a little more seriously than I did five or six years ago,” said Edwards. “It’d be nice to be somewhere warm but it can’t happen every year.”
For more information on measles, click here.
Click here to download the Northern News Now app or our Northern News Now First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2025 Northern News Now. All rights reserved.