Get access to over 1,300 articles and reader Q&As
I live in Canada and am flying to the U.S. with my five-month-old next week. However, the various measles outbreaks are making me question whether I should cancel my trip. My partner thinks I’m being overly anxious/cautious.
—Anonymous
These measles outbreaks are both scary and very frustrating. The measles vaccine has been widely used for many decades and has been shown to be extremely safe. Perhaps billions of doses have been given. It’s also an example of an incredibly effective vaccine — in the range of 95% protection after a single dose (typically given at 1 year old) and 99% after two doses (second dose at age 4). It’s hard to understand the resistance to vaccination in this environment, but overall vaccination rates for routine childhood illnesses have declined considerably post-COVID.
For people with older children, this is not a personally challenging situation, because once your child is vaccinated, they are extremely well protected against measles, so there is relatively little to worry about with exposure. The group for whom this has felt the most difficult are parents of kids under 1 — like yours — where they are not yet protected by a vaccine.
In all of 2025, there were 49 outbreaks with a total of 2,267 documented cases and three confirmed deaths. These are the first deaths from measles in the U.S. since 2015, so it is understandable that people are nervous. As of February 2026, there have been five new outbreaks and 910 documented cases so far.
In terms of whether it should affect your travel plans, though, it is important to keep this in perspective. There are 330 million people in the U.S., and most locations do not have a current measles outbreak. If you are planning to travel somewhere with an outbreak or to a country with active measles infections, some additional caution is warranted. However, for most travel, this remains a very small risk.
Community Guidelines
Log in
What about all of the other awful things that can happen after measles like SSPE that can happen years later even if the child doesn’t die now? Is that not also of concern?
How do you feel now (in 2026) about airplane and travel to Florida for spring break with a 5-month old. 68 cases reported as of 2/16/26
now in Florida. Would be staying at grandparents.
following!
We’ve updated the numbers of cases above — the guidance is the same. You can also consider vaccinating for measles as early as six months: https://parentdata.org/babies/can-i-vaccinate-my-baby-for-measles-early/
How did this go for you?
Would this recommendation hold true now with the current outbreak happening?
She wrote an updated post here
https://parentdata.org/can-i-vaccinate-my-baby-for-measles-early/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram&utm_campaign=archivepost&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZrgK0bWPlIyUl7HI5krVYG6yGZRtj03hIthFH-_Y1HC0JfOPHV4IywGl4_aem_qQmAQ3zAgr5BTkoxya6s8g