As measles cases climb past 600 in Pennsylvania, Pitt health experts are urging students to get vaccinated and review their immunization records to help curb the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
As of September 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> reported more than 3,000 confirmed measles cases nationwide<\/a>, an increase of more than 30% compared to confirmed measles cases in 2025. The Pennsylvania Department of Health<\/a> confirmed 624 cumulative measles cases across<\/a> the state and two measles-related deaths<\/a>, although the precise cause of those deaths is still under debate<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Measles<\/a> is a highly contagious airborne disease that initially infects the respiratory tract before spreading through the body. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, rashes and red or watery eyes.<\/p>\n Richard Zimmerman, a professor of family medicine who studies infectious disease and vaccine modeling and policies, said measles is particularly infectious because it can remain contagious in the air for almost two hours, in addition to spreading through typical face-to-face contact and contaminated surfaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOutbreaks started to occur because people chose not to vaccinate in the face of a highly contagious disease,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cWith a highly susceptible population, the highly infectious disease becomes even more contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n Zimmerman said vaccines introduce a weakened version of the virus into the body, prompting it to produce antibodies and immune cells that fight against the virus in future infections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cVaccines are like a flight simulator,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want untrained pilots going into a thunderstorm, so you train them in simulators so that they are ready for such accidents. We\u2019re training the immune system with vaccines, so that they are ready to fight invaders when they show up.\u201d<\/p>\n The MMR vaccine is particularly effective<\/a>, Zimmerman said, because it provides both individual and community immunity. Individual immunity refers to a person\u2019s ability to fight off infection, while community immunity refers to reduced transmission of virus overall, which lowers the spread of disease across a population.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith the flu vaccine, you are vaccinated primarily for yourself,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cWith diseases like measles, you\u2019re vaccinated to protect yourself, but you\u2019re also vaccinated for those around you, contributing to community immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Zimmerman said growing vaccine hesitancy<\/a> has led to declining vaccination rates<\/a> and increasing exemption rates<\/a>. He explained that because measles is highly contagious, a population vaccination rate of about 94%<\/a> is needed to maintain effective community immunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not at the vaccination rate we need. Many places drop low, closer to 90%, and the exemption rate is going up,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cThe low vaccination rates have led to more measles cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Zimmerman said vaccinations also help protect people who may not respond to vaccines or who are severely immunosuppressed \u2014 meaning they have a reduced ability to fight infections \u2014 because of cancer treatments or genetic conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cThink about your part in [a] campus, family or work community,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want someone else getting you sick. Likewise, part of that community responsibility is not getting others sick, as much as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n University spokesperson Meredith Herndon said Pitt Student Health Services<\/a> is monitoring measles activity in Pennsylvania and following public health guidance from the state health department and the CDC. If a case is confirmed on campus, Student Health will work with public health authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage students to know their vaccination status and review their immunization records,\u201d Herndon said. \u201cStudents who are unsure whether they have received the recommended vaccinations can contact Student Health Services or their healthcare provider for guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n Herndon said Pitt\u2019s existing immunization requirements<\/a> \u2014 which includes the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine<\/a> \u2014 remain in place for students. Pitt grants exemptions based on religious, moral or ethical grounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cVaccines are an effective way to protect against infection and disease,\u201d Herndon said. \u201cThis is particularly important for diseases such as measles, which is highly contagious and can spread quickly among people who are not immune.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As measles cases climb past 600 in Pennsylvania, Pitt health experts are urging students to get vaccinated and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-283734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}