Are Pittsburgh's schools prepared for measles? Vaccination rates down

• Allegheny County's kindergarten vaccination rates are higher than the national average but have been declining.
• The measles vaccination rate for kindergarteners in Allegheny County is 94.1%, just below the 95% needed for herd immunity.
• Hundreds of students in Allegheny County attend school while unvaccinated, either with legal exemptions or without any exemption on file.
• There have been no reported measles cases in Allegheny County this year, though cases have occurred elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

As the CDC tracks the rising number of measles cases nationwide, how well-protected are Pittsburgh's schools from an outbreak?

Vaccination rates for Allegheny's kindergarteners are better than the national average. Still, they're not where they should be for optimal protection against measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and they've been on a steady trend downward in recent years.

Here's what the numbers show.

Measles, other disease vaccination rates in Pittsburgh Public Schools

Pennsylvania publishes school immunization rates by county, though there's no publicly available breakdown on a school-by-school basis.

Here's how the data breaks down for Allegheny's kindergarteners in 2024-2025, the most recent year data was available:

• Measles, mumps and rubella: 94.1%
• Polio rate: 94%
• Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis rate: 94.3%
• Hepatitis B: 95.4%
• Varicella: 92.4% (another 1.4% had the disease)

How many students are exempt?

State records indicate that hundreds of students attended Allegheny's schools while being exempt from receiving vaccines.

Here's how that data breaks down for the 2024-2025 school year (percentage figures represent the percentages of students within the grade exempt for the specified reason).

Medically exempt

• Kindergarten: 42 students (0.3%)
• 7th grade: 63 students (0.5%)
• 12th grade: 121 students (1%)

Religiously exempt

• Kindergarten: 237 students (1.9%)
• 7th grade: 299 students (2.5%)
• 12th grade: 347 students (2.8%)

Philosophically exempt

• Kindergarten: 221 students (1.8%)
• 7th grade: 200 students (1.7%)
• 12th grade: 306 students (2.5%)

Students attended Allegheny, more schools around Pennsylvania without vaccines

State records indicate that in addition to students who were legally exempt from receiving vaccines, there were hundreds of unvaccinated students in Allegheny County who had not received any form of exemption but were still in the classroom in the 2024-2025 school year.

The issue was even bigger statewide — the same year, there were nearly 16,000 students without exemptions attending schools while unvaccinated, according to reporting by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In combination with those who had legal exemptions – approximately 23,000 throughout the state – there were at least 40,000 students attending classes while unvaccinated, the Post-Gazette reported.

Here's what that data looked like locally in the 2024-2025 school year.

Students attending Allegheny schools while non-compliant with vaccines

• Kindergarten: 295 students (2.4% of total grade population)
• 7th grade: 605 students (5.1%)
• 12th grade: 519 (4.2%)

Additionally, there were 475 students who were in the process of completing their required vaccinations at the time of enrollment. Only 14 students were denied admission across grades because of their vaccine status.

MMR rates in Pittsburgh: Do students have herd immunity?

When more than 95% of a community is vaccinated against measles, that community has achieved herd immunity, meaning most people are protected against the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the rate of kindergarteners vaccinated against measles in Allegheny County was 94.1%, below the number needed for herd immunity, according to state records.

Here's how overall vaccination rates have dropped over recent years:

• 2024-2025: 94.1%
• 2023-2024: 94.4%
• 2022-2023: 94.8%
• 2021-2022: 95.7%
• 2020-2021: 96.7%

Statewide, records showed that MMR vaccination rates for kindergarteners in 2024-2025 were below the rate needed for herd immunity, with 93.7% of kindergarteners vaccinated against the disease. Nationwide, the rate was 92.5%, according to the CDC.

Have there been any measles outbreaks in Pittsburgh this year?

There have not been any measles cases reported in Pittsburgh or the surrounding area of Allegheny County in 2026. While the CDC reported only 15 cases throughout Pennsylvania, the state department of health said there were a total of 23 individuals who had caught measles this year. Most of those cases occurred in Lebanon and Lancaster counties, Spotlight PA reported.

Of the 23 people sickened, 22 were unvaccinated, while one patient had a vaccination status that couldn't be verified, according to the state department of health.

How well does measles vaccine protect against infection, hospitalization, death?

Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide 97% protection against the virus, according to the CDC, with children usually receiving their first dose at 12 to 15 months and a second at four to six years, USA TODAY previously reported.

It's estimated that one in five people who aren't vaccinated and get measles will need to be hospitalized, according to the CDC. Health experts have emphasized that the best protection against the disease is the vaccine, which can be given by itself, as part of an MMR vaccine or as part of the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) shot.

Those born before 1957 are presumed to have acquired immunity, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

How does measles spread?

Measles is an airborne disease, which means that it spreads when an infected person exhales, coughs or sneezes, according to the World Health Organization. It can remain in the air for two hours after the infected person has left the area, and droplets can remain infectious on surfaces.

A person with measles is contagious four days before the development of a rash to four days after the rash erupts, according to the WHO.

What are the symptoms of measles?

Signs of a measles infection generally appear seven to 14 days after someone encounters the virus. The following symptoms may be observed, according to the CDC:

• High fever
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Red, watery eyes
• Koplik spots (white spots inside the mouth)
• Rash that generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and hairline before spreading downward on the body

Some people develop complications from measles. Complications may include:

• Ear infection
• Diarrhea
• Hospitalization
• Pneumonia
• Encephalitis, which can lead to convulsions, deafness or intellectual disability
• Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a fatal disease of the nervous system
• Death
• Pregnancy complications, which may include premature birth or a low-birth-weight baby

What other states have measles outbreaks? Number of cases in 2026

In 2026, there have been 25 new outbreaks and 1,842 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S., according to a report published by the CDC on May 8. There were 2,288 confirmed cases of the disease in 2025.

This year, in addition to Pennsylvania, cases have been reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Of the 1,842 confirmed cases this year, 21% of them occurred in those under five years old, 51% sickened those between the ages of five and 19 and 27% involved those over 20 years of age, according to the CDC. Six cases involved individuals whose ages weren't known. Of those sickened, 92% were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccine status, and an additional 4% had only received one MMR dose.

Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at [email protected]. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.