As measles continues to spread, health officials are seeing vaccine interest rise
As measles continues to spread across the U.S., local health officials say it may be spurring some to get themselves or their children vaccinated.
More than 4,000 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. as well as six deaths -- with the most recent fatality confirmed by Pennsylvania health officials on Monday. It's the most cases and deaths reported in the country in more than three decades.
Doctors and public health department leaders told ABC News that awareness of the virus' dangers has led to higher interest in the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine in some areas.
"We have seen increased interest in the MMR vaccine since the start of the outbreak," Lindsay Pringle, manager of community health and wellness at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, said. "Public awareness of measles and its potential complications have grown during this time, which may influence vaccination decisions."
Taking the vaccine to people's homes
Since an outbreak began in April, cases in Pennsylvania have surpassed 1,100 with more than 200 hospitalizations, according to the state health department.
Dr. Patrick Gavigan, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Penn State Health Golisano Children's Hospital in Dauphin County, which borders epicenter Lancaster County, said about 20 children have been admitted due to measles-related illness over the course of the year.
Gavigan said nearly every hospitalized patient had family members who either were currently sick or had been with a measles-like illnesses.
"We've had a number of different kinds of conversations with people about MMR vaccine," Gavigan said. "With patients, by the time we're seeing them with measles, for them the opportunity has passed and the ship has sailed" to get vaccinated.
In the last month-and-a-half, Gavigan said he has seen a few cases where a child was sick in the hospital with measles and it convinced family members living outside of the home, or other community members, to get vaccinated.
"Individuals are seeing cases of measles and, in these particular instances, seeing more severe cases of measles and recognizing how much a problem this can be," he said.
Local health officials have taken time to visit more rural communities and those lacking access to vaccination. As some community members have received the vaccine, it has spurred them to recommend the shot to their family, friends and neighbors.
Jeanne Franklin, public health director of the Chester County Health Department in Pennsylvania, told ABC News the most powerful form of communication is from individuals who have been vaccinated and spread the word.
"We have received calls from individuals who have a group of people interested in being vaccinated and request us to come to their home or place of business to provide the MMR vaccine," she said. "We average about 10 people per call but have vaccinated as many as 67 in one location. When at a home, we have vaccinated in kitchens, porches, living rooms, et cetera."
A 500% increase in vaccination
Since an outbreak began in June 2025, Utah has recorded 724 measles cases, according to the state's Department of Health & Human Services.
Unlike Pennsylvania's outbreak, or those that occurred in Texas and South Carolina -- all of which were largely contained to one region -- the virus has permeated unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities in almost every county in Utah.
Kirk Benge, health officer and executive director of the TriCounty Health Department, told ABC News that local officials have been concerned about declining vaccination rates for years. The TriCounty region covers Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties in northeastern Utah.
In December 2024, the board issued a letter to the community stating that exemptions for childhood vaccinations among TriCounty kindergartners increased from 4.8% to 11.9% over a four-year period.
Data for the 2025-26 school year shows 16.1% of kindergartners in the TriCounty area were missing documentation for the MMR shot.
TriCounty has recorded 80 cases so far this year. Many of these cases occurred after people became infected at a youth wrestling tournament tin February and subsequently spread the virus in school and within their households.
"We did issue a local request to the school district to require students that were not vaccinated to stay home for several weeks and I think we saw the outbreak in our area subside relatively quickly compared to a lot of areas in the state," Benge said.
Benge said he saw an interest in the community among parents wanting to catch their child up on the MMR vaccine.
March 2026 saw a 500% increase in parents whose children received the MMR vaccine compared to March 2025, Benge said.
"What we saw was a huge influx of parents wanting to get their children caught up on vaccines so they could stay in school," he said.
Benge said a conscious effort was made to not stigmatize parents who had previously opted against vaccination.
He recalled one mother who reached out to the health department to ask about vaccination for her infant. She had older children who had never been vaccinated and indicated she had not worried about them contracting measles in the past.
When the mother learned how severe measles can be among infants, she reached out to the TriCounty Health Department and spoke with a nurse about how to best protect her infant.
"She indicated that initially she was nervous to call because she thought she might feel judged, but I do recall that she was very thankful at how considerate and kind our nurses were and that she did not feel judged for choosing not to vaccinate her kids in the past," Benge said.
