Mar 28, 2025 By Karen Mansfield 5 min read

MetroCreative

Most people who were vaccinated as children won’t need any additional measles vaccines, said Dr. Graham Snyder, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at UPMC.

Measles was considered eliminated in the United States in 2000, thanks to the highly effective measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and high vaccination rates.

But vaccination rates have fallen in recent years, and measles cases are on the rise in the United States, with 378 confirmed cases of measles in 17 states across the country – surpassing last year’s total of 285, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Two measles cases were confirmed this week in Erie County, according to the Erie County Department of Health.

“Measles is incredibly contagious,” said Dr. Joseph Aracri, a pediatrician with Allegheny Health Network. “The most important thing to know is, there is measles going around, and if you’ve received both MMRs, you’re 97% protected from getting measles.

How contagious is measles? It’s one of the most contagious viral illnesses. Nine in 10 people who are exposed to the measles virus will become infected if they haven’t been vaccinated or haven’t had measles.

Before a vaccine became available in 1963, an estimated 3 million to 4 million people were infected each year, with about 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths annually.

Worldwide, 107,500 people, mostly children younger than 5 years old, died due to measles in 2023, according to the CDC.

The virus spreads easily through airborne droplets and usually causes high fever, cough, redness of the eyes, and small white dots inside the mouth, to start. The characteristic red rash usually starts on the face and spreads to the body.

Aracri stressed the importance of being vaccinated against measles, and said serious health complications can occur, including pneumonia and encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain that can lead to seizures, brain damage, and even death.

Statewide, 94% of kindergartners in Pennsylvania had received two or more doses of the measles vaccine ahead of the 2023-24 school year, a drop of about 1.5 percentage points over four years, and below the 95% vaccination rate doctors say is necessary for herd immunity, which protects residents who cannot be vaccinated due to age or weakened immune systems.

In Washington and Greene counties, 95% and 97.2% of kindergartners, respectively, were inoculated against the measles, while 93.3% of kindergartners in Fayette County were vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Only 23 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties currently hit that 95% threshold, DOH data shows.

Children are required to get certain vaccinations, including MMR, before they enter school in Pennsylvania, but in 2023-24, about 2.5% of kindergartners received a vaccination exemption for religious reasons, while another 1.8% were exempted on philosophical grounds. In the 2019-20 school year, religious and philosophical exemptions combined totaled. 2.4% of kindergartners in the state.

Raising measles vaccination coverage in pockets of communities with low rates matters, because when an infection occurs, it spreads quickly among people of all ages who are susceptible, Aracri said.

In the West Texas measles outbreak, which has infected more than 309 people in 14 counties and spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma, hospitalized dozens, and killed two people (an adult in New Mexico and a 6-year-old Texas girl), the vaccination rate in the community is very low. The deaths are the first in the U.S. since 2015 and the first child’s death from measles since 2003.

Aracri suggests parents follow the CDC’s recommendation that all children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, with the first dose given between 12 and 15 months and the second dose between the ages of 4 and 6.

“The vaccine is very safe and very effective,” Aracri said.

One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles.

Most people who were vaccinated as children won’t need any additional measles vaccines, said Dr. Graham Snyder, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at UPMC.

“Presently, vaccine recommendations do not advise a booster dose for people with ‘presumptive evidence of immunity,’ which includes receiving routine vaccination, laboratory evidence of immunity, laboratory confirmation of the disease, or born before 1957. This is because vaccination or confirmed disease provides very good lifelong immunity,” said Snyder in an email.

Adults who were vaccinated against the measles between 1963 and 1967 likely received an early version of the vaccine that was made from an inactivated virus, which was not nearly as effective as the live MMR vaccine. If you know you got the inactivated vaccine, or aren’t sure, you should get at least one dose of the live MMR vaccine, according to the CDC.

Those vaccinated between 1968 and 1989 likely received just one dose of the measles vaccine, instead of the two doses that are standard today. While one dose is highly effective and, for most people, provides enough protection, the CDC recommends an additional dose of measles vaccine for adults who are considered at high risk. That includes people who are in college settings, work in health care, live with or are in close contact with immunocompromised people, or are traveling internationally.

Anyone unsure of their vaccination status or concerned about their status should have a discussion with their doctor, Aracri said.

There is no harm in getting an additional dose of the MMR vaccine.