A D.C.-area pediatrician is warning about the dangers of so called “measles parties” that are being held to build children’s immunity to the virus. This comes as an outbreak in cases has been seen across the country, including Texas, among children and adults not vaccinated against the disease.
“I think people forget we had a child recently die in 2025 of measles,” said Dr. Gabrina Dixon, a pediatrician at Children’s National Hospital. “I always say prevention is key. You don’t want to get the illness, you want to prevent it. And the way to prevent it is with vaccination.”
While no instances of “measles parties” have been reported around the D.C. region, Texas, which is seeing most of the cases, has warned against the practice.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles cases were considered eradicated in the year 2000 due to the use of vaccinations. Now, the number of vaccinated kindergartners has dropped below 95% and decreasing.
“You don’t have to believe what people say, but numbers do not lie, and we see that in communities where there are really low vaccination rates, people are getting measles,” Dixon said.
One belief behind exposing a child to others with an illness to build their immunity could be the belief by some that a vaccine can also give someone an illness. Dixon said that is “a false narrative.”
If someone comes down with an illness shortly after receiving a vaccine, Dixon said it is most likely due to them catching the illness before the vaccine can fully kick in.
“It takes vaccines usually up to two weeks for your body to build a defense, to fight whatever the vaccine is trying to prevent,” Dixon said.
She said it’s especially concerning to expose young children whose parents may not know their child’s full health picture.
“It can lead to the death of that child because they’re immunocompromised or a really severe illness causing them to be hospitalized,” she said. “The only party we should be doing is getting the vaccine.”
Health officials in the D.C. region have warned about one case of measles in Maryland, which involved someone who traveled through Dulles International Airport, presenting a risk of possible exposure to others around them.
The symptoms of measles, according to Dixon, are cold-like in the beginning — a high fever, runny nose, cough, watery eyes — then a telltale rash will appear.
Dixon encourages individuals to get vaccinated against measles, if they haven’t been already.
Blood work can be used to determine if someone is protected if they are unsure whether they were vaccinated as children. For adults, anyone who was vaccinated before 1968 may need a measles booster, she said.