Michigan health officials on Thursday urged families to check their vaccination records and catch up on missed vaccines ahead of the school year as the United States logs the most measles cases in 35 years and a comeback of whooping cough is happening.
Michigan has seen 14 cases of measles this year, most of which were associated with outbreaks in Washtenaw and Ottawa counties, and the state confirmed 30 cases in 2025. But the state isn’t fully through 2026 yet, said Ryan Malosh, director of the Division of Immunization at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s still opportunities for there to be additional cases,” Malosh said.
At a virtual roundtable on Thursday, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive, said the U.S. is experiencing the worst year for measles since 1991. She said the country’s number of measles cases this year has already surpassed the total for 2025. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 2,318 confirmed measles cases had been reported in the U.S. this year as of July 23. Measles is a very contagious virus and can cause serious health complications, the CDC said.
The I Vaccinate campaign, a public-private partnership that provides parents with information about vaccinations, held the roundtable on Thursday with health officials and advocates for vaccination. As the start of the school year approaches, Bagdasarian urged parents to check their children’s vaccination records to ensure they don’t have any outstanding immunizations and asked them to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule.
Rachel VanDenBrink, a Kent Intermediate School District nurse consultant and Michigan Director of the National Association of School Nurses, said that when families choose to vaccinate, the impact “reaches far beyond a single shot.”
“It protects … your student from severe illness and lost learning time,” VanDenBrink said. “It creates a safe environment in the school for vulnerable classmates who have chronic health conditions and rely on that community immunity to attend school safely. It protects the younger siblings at home who are still too young to be fully vaccinated.”
Measles in Michigan this year
Michigan saw outbreaks of measles earlier this year, including an outbreak with seven cases in Washtenaw County and one with four cases in Ottawa County, according to the state health department.
The state has also reported three cases this year that weren’t associated with outbreaks: two in Macomb County and one in Monroe County.
Malosh said Michigan has not seen “a lot of activity” since the spring.
“Through the dedicated efforts of our local health department staff ― really, I mean, hours and hours and hours of staff time dedicated to controlling these outbreaks ― we were able to minimize the impact, and we haven’t seen many additional cases this year,” he said.
Malosh said the state confirmed 30 cases of measles in 2025, but it didn’t report any in each year from 2019 through 2024. But in 2018, Michigan reported around 38 or 39 cases, he said.
Vaccination rates have declined
About 76% of kids in Michigan in the preschool age group ― 19- to 35-month-olds ― have received the recommended doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, Malosh said. This represents an about 10% drop over the last five years, he said
About 70% of kindergarten-aged kids in Michigan have had the two recommended doses of MMR vaccine, Malosh said. This tends to mean children ages 4 and 5 years old.
Bagdasarian also noted that pertussis, or whooping cough, is “making a comeback.”
Malosh said about 65% of kids in the kindergarten age group in the state have received their pertussis vaccine, which represents a roughly 6% decline.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan health officials urge vaccinations as measles threat looms
Reporting by Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Anne Snabes, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
