That figure represents the highest total in more than 25 years according to the International Vaccine Access Center.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to measles will become infected. About one in five unvaccinated people who contract measles in the U.S. require hospitalization.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday at the University of Hartford, Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani emphasized vaccination as the most effective protection against the virus, according to reporting by We-Ha.com.
“One dose of measles vaccine is about 93 percent effective, while two doses are about 97 percent effective,” Juthani said. “We must ensure we continue to protect those who matter most — children and other vulnerable people — from vaccine-preventable illnesses through on-time vaccination.”
Juthani also warned that rising measles cases nationally could mark a turning point.
“In the United States of America, 2025 is likely to be the hallmark year where we lost our elimination status of measles,” she said, referring to the country’s long-standing designation after measles was declared eliminated in 2000, reported We-Ha.com, a local newssite.
Juthani said the department is conducting contact tracing to identify anyone who may have been exposed during the child’s infectious period and is working with the family to notify close contacts.
The child attended Christian Heritage School, a private school in Trumbull, according to local health officials. In a Dec. 11 statement, the Trumbull Health Department said town officials are “working closely with Christian Heritage School administration and the Connecticut Department of Public Health to ensure that all proper precautions are being taken to ensure the health and well being of all students, faculty and Trumbull residents.”
In a separate statement issued Dec. 13, the Town of Trumbull and the Trumbull Health Department said Christian Heritage School “abides by Connecticut State Department of Education and Connecticut Department of Public Health vaccination requirements and are in compliance under the law,” noting that some students may legally attend school under valid exemptions permitted by state law.
Separately, in a letter sent to families of Christian Heritage School students, Trumbull Director of Health Joan Littlefield and Trumbull Director of Nursing Lynn Steinbrick said a person with measles was present at the school on Dec. 4.
The letter stated that “unvaccinated or undervaccinated children and adults, including those who have a medical or other exemption to vaccination, must be excluded from school through 21 days after their most recent exposure,” which would be through Dec. 25, and also included guidance for parents on measles symptoms, monitoring, and when to seek medical care.
State immunization data show that Christian Heritage School has one of the higher exemption rates in Connecticut. During the 2024–25 school year, 9.3 percent of students at the Trumbull private school had exemptions from required vaccinations, including 8.5 percent with religious exemptions and 0.8 percent with medical exemptions, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s School Immunization Survey. That level places the school among the 20 Connecticut schools with the highest rates of religious exemptions statewide.
The Christian Heritage School did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite pockets of lower coverage, Connecticut remains the most highly vaccinated state in the country. An estimated 98.3 percentof Connecticut kindergarteners received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine during the 2024–25 school year, compared with a national average of 92.5 percent, according to state data.
In 2021, Connecticut lawmakers repealed the state’s religious exemption to childhood vaccination requirements, though a grandfather clause allows students who had claimed a religious exemption before the law took effect to retain it through the end of their K–12 enrollment.
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at nathan.metcalf@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @natpat_123.