PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon Health Authority is warning families to not host a “Measles Party” to intentionally expose their children to the contagious disease.
Similar to the concept of a “Pox Party,” a measles party brings a group of children together to intentionally expose them to infectious diseases like chickenpox. However, OHA says measles parties are dangerous.
“Measles can be extremely dangerous, especially for children younger than 5 – at worst, the virus can cause brain swelling, pneumonia and even death,” health officials said. “There’s even evidence that measles parties – combined with low vaccination rates – helped fuel a measles outbreak in New York City in 2019.”
The concept has recently gained traction after Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, put out a message about measles parties on X.
“They used to have measles parties, basically get all the kids together so that all catch it and develop immunity. Then when I was a kid, they did the same thing with chickenpox,” she said. “Now, they demonize parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids.”
But the OHA says kids should instead build immunity by getting vaccinated.
“The best way to build immunity against measles is to prevent transmission of the virus in the first place, and that’s by getting vaccinated with the MMR vaccine,” officials said. “The vaccine is safe and effective, and it can help communities avoid the wave of measles cases that Oregon saw in mid-2024 and 2019.”
According to OHA, Oregon saw a total of 31 measles cases across several counties in 2024 — marking the largest outbreak in the state since 2019. Officials said all the recorded cases last year were among unvaccinated adults and children.
“Before 2019, you’d have to go all the way back to the early 1990s to see case counts this high,” OHA said. “The reason is we maintained very high vaccination rates and very high population levels of immunity, but unfortunately, we’ve seen an erosion in the percentage of people who are getting vaccinated against measles.”
Oregon state law requires any unvaccinated person who has been exposed to the virus to isolate at home for roughly 21 days after the initial exposure. This time period can also be extended if the case is tied to other cases.
