PAHO reports measles cases up 34-fold in 2025
Friday, September 12th 2025 – 20:12 UTC
The Fiocruz expert insisted on the need to increase vaccination
According to the latest Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) report on the issue, a 34-fold increase in the number of measles cases was detected last month against 2024 figures.
Ten countries in the Americas accounted for over 10,000 detections and 18 fatalities, 14 in Mexico, 3 in the United States, and 1 in Canada.
Brazil’s most recent records show 24 cases by the end of August, 19 of which were in the State of Tocantins. Although the country is among those with the lowest number of cases in the region, it remains on alert due to the virus’ high transmissibility.
Marilda Siqueira, head of the Laboratory of Respiratory, Exanthematic, Enterovirus, and Viral Emergencies at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz), insisted it was urgent to increase vaccination coverage. Measles is highly transmissible. We need to achieve at least 95% vaccination coverage to create collective protection, reducing the number of people susceptible to the virus, she warned.
Highly contagious, measles spreads through the air via secretions from infected individuals and can infect people of all ages. Symptoms include high fever, a rash that spreads throughout the body, nasal congestion, and eye irritation. The disease can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, and even blindness, especially in malnourished children and people with compromised immunity.
Until the early 1990s, measles was one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide, causing about 2.5 million deaths per year, mostly among children. Vaccination changed this scenario, allowing countries to progressively reduce cases and achieve the elimination of endemic circulation in several regions.
In the Americas, this achievement was recognized in 2016, when the continent received official certification of the disease’s elimination. However, this achievement does not mean that the virus has disappeared.
The risk of reintroduction is constant, especially in contexts of low vaccination coverage. According to PAHO, most cases reported in 2025 in the Americas occurred among unvaccinated people, while another significant portion involved individuals with unknown vaccination status.
Protection against measles depends on the administration of two doses of the vaccine. In Brazil, the regular vaccination schedule calls for the first dose at 12 months and the second at 15 months of age, with other age groups potentially included in specific campaigns.
According to Siqueira, children who do not have both doses recorded in their vaccination card are not fully protected. Hence, adherence to the vaccination schedule is essential to prevent the return of measles.
The PAHO also warned that coverage in the Americas has not yet reached the 95% recommended to block the spread of the virus. In 2024, only 89% received the first dose of the MMR vaccine, and only 79% completed the scheme.
In Brazil, the situation is more favorable compared to the continental average. After years of decline, vaccination coverage began to grow again in 2023, with significant results in 2024.
The federal Health Ministry reported that the number of municipalities achieving the 95% immunization target against measles, mumps, and rubella in the second dose of the MMR vaccine had more than doubled in two years, from 855 in 2022 to 2,408 in 2024.
In 2025, faced with an increase in cases in neighboring countries, Brazil has been strengthening its immunization efforts, both in border areas and throughout the national territory. In addition, the reactivation of the Binational Health Commission with Uruguay resulted in a large joint mobilization in Santana do Livramento (Rio Grande do Sul) and Rivera, on the Uruguayan side, thus expanding protection for people in the area.
Brazil’s Health Ministry has promoted successive vaccination days against measles in different states. In July, the mobilization took place in border cities in Acre, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Rondônia, with about 3,000 doses administered. In August, all 79 municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul participated in the campaign.
Siqueira underscored, however, that no strategy will be effective if people do not do their part. Together with state and municipal secretariats, the Ministry of Health is working in municipalities with confirmed cases to prevent the spread of the virus. But this work will only be successful if it has the participation of the population. This means seeking health services when presenting with fever and rash—those red spots on the body—and keeping vaccinations up to date, she stressed. (Source: Agencia Brasil)
