Recent reports of measles diagnoses have Greenville and Spartanburg communities utterly perplexed. The South Carolina Department of Public Health recorded the first recent case in October 2025, and they have now recorded 979 cases, primarily among unvaccinated individuals.
As this is an illness that has reappeared in recent years, community members wonder where this is coming from, what the cause is and what preventative measures individuals and families can take.
“Measles has been considered non-endemic anywhere in the United States. We were able to have a broad rollout of the vaccine because it is so effective at preventing infection, so it’s probably been 50 years since we’ve had a breakout of this size … but it’s not overwhelming hospitals. [Only] one case is considered an outbreak,” Katie Parris ‘19 said, the Director of Wellness Programming at Wofford.
Parris is a Wofford graduate and now holds a Master’s degree in Public Health. She emphasized that this outbreak is not sudden, but rather a matter of time due to low vaccination rates in South Carolina.
“For probably a decade out MMR vaccination rates for the MMR in particular have been falling in the Upstate. I was a student at Wofford and my capstone was on vaccination. My mother was a first grade teacher in the area. Fall 2018 my mom had a student get the mumps. So measles, mumps and rubella is what the MMR stands for. I thought that was strange and sudden, and something you don’t hear of anymore … I would not say that this was sudden, we got below herd immunity so it was only a matter of time,” Parris said.
The South Carolina Department of Health holds records of vaccination and infection rates.
Herd immunity for measles requires 92-94% of the population to be vaccinated. However, some schools in the state have student vaccination rates as low as 21%. The Department of Public Health offers mobile vaccination sites and has made vaccines accessible. The main roots of vaccine hesitancy are cultural, religious or medical reasons.
“The flu vaccine is not as good at preventing the flu as the measles vaccine is at preventing and spreading measles. The flu vaccine is annual, so there are a lot of people who choose to get the flu vaccine every year, and that’s because surface proteins on the flu change each year, and we have to adjust our vaccines because it very quickly mutates and we get new forms of the flu, Parris said. “Measles does not mutate that fast, so that’s why it’s able to be a whole lot more effective than the flu vaccine. Because we know what it is and how to make vaccines for it.”
Parris emphasized that there is no reason to panic, as vaccinated individuals have a 97% acceptance rate, and Wofford is well over herd immunity. Many individuals are vaccinated around the age of two. However, those who would like to check their vaccination status may visit the SIMON database online. If unvaccinated and experiencing flu-like symptoms, Parris encourages patients to inform their provider of their vaccine status.
“Nothing policy-wise at Wofford has changed as a result. We still have room for religious or medical exceptions … we’re watching it but there’s nothing to worry about,” Parris said.
For more information, visit the South Carolina Department of Health’s website at dph.sc.gov.
