Measles: in 6 months, the number of cases in 2025 already far exceeds the 2024 total in France

France is affected by a worrying resurgence of measles, which has been intensifying since the beginning of 2025.

The year is far from over, and the tally is already alarming. From January 1 to May 31, 2024, the number of measles cases has already reached 658, according to the latest report from Public Health France . This is 35% more than the total number of cases reported in 2024, with 483 cases. And the epidemic is not over, since "the number of reported cases appears to have peaked in March but remains at a high level, particularly in certain regions," notes Public Health France.

The most affected are children under 4 years old, then adolescents between 10 and 19 years old, and finally adults over 40 years old. Since the beginning of the year, 70% of cases have been in people who have not been or have not been fully vaccinated. However, the MMR vaccine has been mandatory since 2018 and represents "the best way to protect yourself from the virus but also to protect vulnerable people at risk of severe forms (infants under one year old, pregnant women and immunocompromised people) who cannot be vaccinated," recalls Public Health France.

Measles, which causes fever, cough, and a rash, can cause complications and even death. One-third of people infected with measles since the beginning of 2025 have gone to the emergency room or been hospitalized. Eighty-seven of them experienced a complication, and two people (immunocompromised patients) died. No deaths were caused by the disease in 2024.

The number of cases remains, however, "limited compared to the average for years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic," Public Health France stated in a bulletin published last April. Between 2017 and 2019, an average of more than 2,000 cases were reported per year in France. The country is far from being the only one affected by a resurgence of measles. The WHO and UNICEF warned in a press release at the end of April of the "particularly dangerous return" of measles worldwide. The organizations report that "over the past 12 months, 138 countries have reported cases of measles, of which 61 have experienced significant or disruptive epidemics, a record number since 2019."