‘Not out of the woods’: Delaware doctor predicts more measles cases as the state’s outbreak rises to 5

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Delaware lawmakers are pushing to increase access to vaccinations as the measles outbreak in the state rises to five cases.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mara Gorman, D-Newark, would require private insurers to continue to cover vaccines that were recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal government agencies before President Donald Trump retook office in January 2025. The bill is currently on Gov. Matt Meyer’s desk.

“I think you know it’s really important to communicate to the public that vaccines are really central to a public health strategy that keeps people from getting sick,” Gorman said.

The Delaware Department of Public Health has reported that since July 20, five people in Kent County have contracted the disease, all of whom were unvaccinated. It’s the first time Delaware has had a case of measles in more than a decade.

State public health officials and medical providers say the two-dose MMR vaccine — for measles, mumps and rubella — is safe and effective. Health officials have urged people to get vaccinated, especially if they think they’ve been exposed to the virus. They also advise parents to vaccinate their kids for measles as part of a recommended childhood vaccination schedule.

Pamela Bailey is the associate infection prevention officer for ChristianaCare, the state’s largest health system. She said the disease can be easily passed to people who are either not vaccinated or undervaccinated.

“Measles is the most contagious disease known to mankind,” she said. “It has the ability to stay in the air, in the droplets that we are coughing and sneezing, and if somebody is unvaccinated and comes into that space, they have a 90% chance of getting a case of measles.”

Bailey said someone exposed to a person with measles could take up to 21 days to develop symptoms.

“We are absolutely not out of the woods yet in the state of Delaware,” she said. “I do anticipate more cases coming.”

Measles was declared eliminated in 2000. But according to the CDC, vaccine rates among kindergarteners has dropped to below the 95% target rate. The agency estimates that for the 2024-2025 school year, 94% of Delaware’s kindergarteners were vaccinated.

Symptoms can include a fever, rash, coughing and a runny nose. Bailey said sometimes people develop serious complications, including inflammation of the brain, that land them in the hospital.

“There’s very little space inside the skull for the brain to expand when it’s inflamed and so you can have permanent consequences related to that brain swelling, including things like deafness,” she said. “[It] used to be very common in the prior epidemics.”

Delaware public health officials declined to say whether anyone has been hospitalized as a result of their infection.

Bailey said she is also watching the outbreak in neighboring Pennsylvania, where according to the state Department of Health, 142 cases of measles have been identified, with 26 needing hospitalization. The majority of the cases, 84, are in Lancaster County.

The CDC website said the MMR vaccine is recommended by doctors as the best way to protect against measles, mumps and rubella.

However, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed doubts about the MMR vaccine despite the nationwide rise in measles outbreaks. This year is shaping up to be the worst for measles outbreaks since 1991. As of July 23, public health officials have identified 2,318 cases in 45 states, with 93% of the individuals not vaccinated.

Gorman said her bill aims to counter misinformation at the federal level.

“My aim here is both to send a message and also to ensure that we continue to have the kind of insurance coverage that I know we really should have,” she said.

Gorman’s legislation was scheduled for a bill signing ceremony with Meyer on Wednesday, but the event was canceled. Gorman said she is confident he will sign the legislation into law. His office did not respond to a question about whether he still plans to sign the bill this week.