Measles isn’t the only growing threat to SC children. Cases of these diseases are rising too

Measles is not the only disease that has increased as the number of childhood vaccinations have decreased in South Carolina over the past several years.

Cases of whooping cough and chicken pox have been reported to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.

Like the recent measles outbreak, most of the cases in the state have been in the Upstate although Lexington and Richland residents have become ill.

The health department says 91% of students statewide have received the vaccines that guard against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

“Declining vaccination rates mean a rise in rates of the potentially preventable diseases they protect against, like measles, and the possible complications, from minor to severe, that they can cause,” Louis Eubank, director of Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Emergency Preparation and Response. “This is true not just for the unvaccinated individual who contracts a vaccine-preventable disease but also for anyone else who they expose who may also be unvaccinated or have a compromised immune system.”

The number of exemptions from the state’s requirement for vaccination to attend school have not recovered since a major decline in 2020-21 during the COVID pandemic.

According to state health data Fairfield, Spartanburg and Richland counties have the lowest vaccination rates in the state, right around 90%.

Health officials say 95% is optimum.

The highest rates are Allendale, Dillon and Clarendon at 98%.

This week, health officials reported a measles outbreak in Upstate South Carolina, including in two Spartanburg County schools. One case was reported in Greenville County. Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health, said Thursday 11 cases had been reported in the state this year and all those infected were not vaccinated.

Some cases are travel-related exposures or close contacts of known cases but the source of other cases could not be identified.

This means the disease is spreading.

She said 90% of unvaccinated people exposed to the measles virus will develop the disease, which is characterized initially by high fever, cough and runny nose before a red rash on the face occurs, usually within four days. The rash then spreads to the rest of the body.

The Spartanburg County schools are Global Academy of South Carolina, a public charter school, with one case and Fairforest Elementary, in Spartanburg School District 6 with three cases.

Students who have been exposed have been excluded from school, Bell said.

Earlier this year, Wellford Academy of Science and Technology in Spartanburg County reported a chickenpox outbreak.

Melissa Robinette, director of public relations at Spartanburg District Five Schools, said at least four students have been diagnosed. The students were excluded from school for a month..

South Carolina cases of whooping cough increased as well, with the majority of cases being in Spartanburg County. In all, 45 of 183 cases confirmed between Jan. 1 and July 30, 2025 were in the Upstate county.

Last year during the came period there were 147 cases.

Whooping cough of pertussis, a highly contagious disease caused by bacteria, once was among the most common causes of childhood deaths prior to the availability of a vaccine.

Symptoms are similar to those of a cold but the cough worsens over a week or two and coughing becomes the characteristic whoop at the end of an attack.

Chicken pox causes blister-like lesions and can spread over the entire body.

One in 10 children develops complications such as infections, dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea, attack of asthma, or pneumonia. Most cases of chickenpox occur in persons less than 15 years old.

Measles, whooping cough and chickenpox are spread through the air from coughing or sneezing.

This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Measles isn’t the only growing threat to SC children. Cases of these diseases are rising too."