Measles Can Ravage the Immune System and Brain, Causing Long-Term Damage – A Virologist Explains
Mar 31, 2025 —
Measles infections send 1 in 5 people to the hospital. wildpixel/ iStock via Getty Images Plus
Measles infections can be extremely serious. So far in 2025, 14% of the people who got measles had to be hospitalized. Last year, that number was 40%. Measles can damage the lungs and immune system, and also inflict permanent brain damage. Three in 1,000 people who get the disease die. But because measles vaccination programs in the U.S. over the past 60 years have been highly successful, few Americans under 50 have experienced measles directly, making it easy to think of the infection as a mere childhood rash with fever.
