Most of the measles patients Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital cared for during South Carolina's recent outbreak were kids aged 10 years or younger.
According to a letter from the health system's physicians, published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Prisma treated 81 people for measles from October 2025 to April 2026.
A total of 997 cases were reported to the South Carolina Department of Public Health during the outbreak. The cases were concentrated in the Upstate region, particularly Spartanburg County, where measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage was 88.9%.
The letter notes that at least 73% of those who sought care at Prisma were unvaccinated. Statewide, 93% of cases were among unvaccinated South Carolinians.
The most common symptoms observed by Prisma clinicians were fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms, and the characteristic rash of flat red spots. Koplik spots, which are tiny, bluish-white clustered lesions on the inside of the mouth, were reported in a quarter of patients.
Severe outcomes, lasting complications
None of the 81 patients seen at Prisma Health died. Ten children and three adults were hospitalized, primarily for dehydration, respiratory problems, or pneumonia.
Most hospitalized patients were sent home within 72 hours, though the report notes that two had prolonged hospitalizations due to measles encephalitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the brain. One of the two was discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility and "as of the time of this report is receiving ongoing outpatient therapy." The other patient recovered but continues to have headaches and a vocal tic.
Within a month after being diagnosed with measles, 24 of the patients had concurrent or subsequent infections. The most common infections were pneumonia, a type of ear infection called otitis media, and sinusitis, an inflammation of the sinus tissue.
