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Measles is back. After declaring it eliminated in 2000, the United States is now dealing with an uptick in cases. The latest outbreak began in California’s Disneyland theme park last December and, by early April, had ballooned to 159 cases across 18 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This troubling situation serves as a stark reminder of the importance of immunization, which for many years had kept this once ubiquitous and sometimes deadly childhood disease in check. Developed in the late 1960s under the guidance of longtime Merck scientist Maurice Hilleman, the two-dose regimen of the combination vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is estimated to be 97 percent effective at preventing measles in a vaccinated individual.
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