TOPEKA — Kansas reported no new measles cases for the third week in a row last week, and health officials are encouraging parents to vaccinate their children as they return to school to keep that trend going.
The lack of new cases puts Kansas about halfway through the 42 days required for a measles outbreak to be considered over, which is two incubation periods of 21 days each, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Close proximity in classrooms creates the ideal environment for the spread of measles, considered the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease, said Karen Winkelman, public health director for the Barton County Health Department.
She said county health officials maintain a strong working relationship with schools, which helps speed communications if there is a measles case.
"With measles, it's going to be quick action, quick notification," she said, adding that they're also encouraging schools to adopt and teach strong hygiene practices.
Handwashing, good practices when sneezing and coughing, and encouraging parents to keep their children home when they have symptoms are among the practices Winkelman highlighted.
"Also review immunization records, making sure they are properly and appropriately vaccinated, and also just being honest, up front," she said. "We're not going to force vaccination, but we want you to know what the consequences are if there would happen to be an exposure."
With a 21-day incubation period, an unvaccinated child who has been exposed may not be able to attend school for that time period.
School vaccination data from 2025 isn't available yet, but many Kansas school districts last year reported decreased vaccination rates, according to Kansas State Department of Education data. For instance, the Gray County kindergarten vaccination rate dropped from 76% in the 2022-23 school year to 66% in 2023-24. Stevens County dropped from 98% to 83% in the same time period.
Ninety cases of measles have been reported in 12 Kansas counties since January, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment data. Most of the cases, 87, are related to an outbreak, which occurs when three or more cases are linked to each other.
The last new Kansas measles cases were reported during the week of July 6.
"Certainly we can hope that the current outbreak situation is improved and nearly ending," said Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System.
But Hawkinson said measles cases continue to increase at the national level. The CDC reported 1,356 confirmed cases of measles as of last week.
Communicating about the importance of vaccines continues to be important, he said. Many people still quote information that has been thoroughly researched and debunked, Hawkinson said.
"There have continued to be publications which continue to support the safety and benefits of vaccines, but especially the (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine," he said. "There continue to be new, updated, well-done studies that show the safety of these vaccines."
Hawkinson referenced a recent Denmark study of 1.2 million children born between 1997 and 2018 that found no association between minute amounts of aluminum in vaccines and long-term health impacts.
"I think we have to continue to promote honest science and transparency, and it is a battle against disinformation, which has persisted and really grown in the past few decades," he said.
Hawkinson said vaccine information has become intertwined with political and societal views.
"When we're talking about our mechanic or our lawyer or our electrician, we will listen to them and take their advice," he said. "But when it comes to the most important thing, we are finding it harder and harder, as a society, to take the advice of those people and those experts who are dedicating their lives and their training and their every day to giving accurate information and trying to keep individuals and communities healthy."
Hawkinson said it's important for parents to make informed decisions about their children's health, and to also consider that an illness like measles can have an economic impact in terms of missed work and medical costs.
Before the measles vaccine was available in the 1960s, most people were infected with the measles virus, with about 400 to 500 people dying each year; 48,000 being hospitalized; and 1,000 suffering from encephalitis, or brain swelling, the CDC website said.
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