The measles were officially gone from the United States in 2000. It didn’t mean that nobody contracted the measles, but how they got it was that someone returned infected from another country.

This year perhaps could be a bad one with 121 cases of measles in many different states as of April 11. Oregon is not one of them.

The numbers of infected people are still low compared to the high of 1,274 in 2019. But measles isn’t some mild annoyance. It can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling, deafness, intellectual disabilities and complications for pregnant women.

Some people can’t be vaccinated because they are too young or have compromised immune systems. Most people are vaccinated and that helps control outbreaks.

Vaccinations matter.