‘It scares me’: Amid SC measles outbreak, one mother won’t leave the house
It’s a balmy, February afternoon in Spartanburg. The sun is out.
Nichole Bennett, 29, bounces a roly-poly baby on her knee in an empty park downtown on Main Street. He coos a little, cries a little. She offers him a bottle. Swings oscillate back and forth in the wind. Her 2-year-old son quietly explores the playground, granola bar in hand – he’s in his own little world, Bennett said.
It’s a rare moment of freedom. Bennett barely leaves the house anymore. She can’t.
Her baby, only five months old, is too young to be vaccinated for the measles, and South Carolina is seeing the biggest outbreaks of the disease in the country. She isn’t taking any risks.
“It scares me,” she said.
Measles, once declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, is a viral, respiratory illness. Characterized by a red rash, the measles causes high fevers, a cough and conjunctivitis. In more severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia and brain inflammation.
It is highly contagious. And it can be particularly dangerous for children.
The Upstate is bearing the brunt of the measles outbreak in South Carolina. With cases nearing 1,000 across the state, many are concentrated near Spartanburg and its neighboring communities, according to the state Department of Public Health.
Most of those infected have not received the measles vaccine, though dozens of vaccinated and partially-vaccinated have caught measles in South Carolina since September 2025.
Most have been children.
Doctors recommend two doses of the MMR vaccine, which guards against measles, mumps and rubella. Often administered after 12 months of age, it is 97% effective against measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles has spread most rapidly at Spartanburg-area schools. More than 20 schools, both public and private, have reported hundreds of quarantined students.
It makes sense. School immunization rates have dropped by nearly 3% statewide since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, from 96% to just over 93%. The State found that immunization rates have fallen below what is needed to secure “herd immunity” – when enough people are protected from a disease so that it cannot easily spread. Reuters reported immunization rates at some area schools have fallen even further.
That’s why Bennett stays home.
Her husband goes to work and does the shopping. She and the baby avoid going out in public, except for an occasional venture into open air spaces, like the park. But she keeps her distance from strangers.
She said she doesn’t understand the hesitation to get vaccinated.
“If your doctor says it’s OK, you gotta trust them,” Bennett said. “It’s not political. It’s medical.”
Much of Spartanburg is seemingly business as usual. Coffee shops are bustling. The library stays busy. Folks still line up at The Beacon Drive-In for burgers and onion rings. A small “No Kings” protest went forward. Even at the Social Security Administration office on Church Street, which is under symptom watch until Feb. 19 after a Jan. 29 exposure, carries on.
But for those like Bennett, life is very much changed.
