Measles gaps in kindergarten
A local report found that in one southwestern Pennsylvania county, roughly one in three kindergarten classrooms lack herd immunity for measles because of declining vaccination rates. The item was published alongside national coverage warning of mixed vaccine messaging from the CDC. ( )
About one in three Allegheny County kindergarten classrooms fell below the measles vaccination level that usually stops outbreaks during the 2023-24 school year. (wesa.fm) Measles spreads so easily that public health experts use 95% measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination as the rough herd-immunity line for classrooms and communities. Allegheny County school data and reporting reviewed by The Washington Post and WESA found many classrooms under that mark. (wesa.fm, cdc.gov) The Allegheny County Health Department posts annual school immunization reports for public, private, parochial, charter, and cyber schools, including 2023-24 and 2024-25 data. Pennsylvania also requires statewide school immunization reporting from public and private schools. (alleghenycounty.us, pa.gov) WESA reported that traditional public schools in Allegheny County, on average, met the 95% threshold, while the average measles, mumps, and rubella rate among private schools was below it. Of the five county schools at 75% or less, four were affiliated with religious institutions. (wesa.fm) Pennsylvania allows medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions, and schools can also have students who are provisionally enrolled while catching up on shots. State guidance says those categories are tracked separately in school immunization reports. (pa.gov) The local numbers land as national kindergarten coverage has also slipped. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said measles, mumps, and rubella coverage for United States kindergartners fell to 92.5% in 2024-25, with about 286,000 children at school without documentation of a completed measles, mumps, and rubella series. (cdc.gov) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported 2,287 confirmed measles cases and 48 outbreaks in 2025, with 90% of cases tied to outbreaks. That followed 285 cases and 16 outbreaks in 2024. (cdc.gov) At the same time, the agency changed its autism-and-vaccines webpage on November 19, 2025. The current page says the claim that vaccines do not cause autism “is not an evidence-based claim” because studies have not ruled out every possibility, a reversal from the agency’s earlier plain-language assurance. (cdc.gov, abcnews.com) Health and Human Services defended the change to ABC News by saying the website was being updated to reflect “gold standard, evidence-based science.” Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, said on X that vaccines for measles, polio, and hepatitis B “are safe and effective and will not cause autism.” (abcnews.com) In Allegheny County, the next school reports will show whether those kindergarten gaps narrowed or widened. For measles, the number to watch stays the same: 95%. (alleghenycounty.us, wesa.fm)
