Kaitlyn Hughes | editor-in-chief

Measles cases have made their way to Pittsburgh, so what does this mean for Duquesne University students?

Pittsburgh saw its first measles case since 2019 at UPMC Children’s Hospital Aug. 20.

Duquesne students have clinical rotations at sites across the region, including Children’s Hospital, but Joy Dougherty, director of Duquesne University Health Services, said in an email to The Duke that the university hasn’t been made aware of any students who’ve been exposed to a confirmed measles case.

If Duquesne was notified of a case involving someone on campus, the university would activate the established infectious disease response procedures, which depends on the specific case. They would work with the Allegheny County Health Department and other agencies.

Clinical students are required to show their immunity to measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), and the university has pre-admission requirements for incoming students, including the MMR vaccine. More than 90% of Duquesne students meet the university’s immunization requirements, Dougherty said. Exemptions are accepted for medical, religious and philosophical purposes.

“The health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff continue to be a top priority for the university, and we will continue to follow the guidance of local and state public officials and take appropriate measures based on the circumstances,” Dougherty said.

The case in Pittsburgh comes at a time where measles cases are increasing across the nation. In Pennsylvania, there are 460 confirmed measles cases across 31 counties, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state has seen two measles-related deaths.

“People should recognize that Pennsylvania is right now one of the leading states when it comes to the activity of measles virus,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “This is something that has engulfed the entire nation and is something that is becoming the new norm that measles is going to be a disruptive force again.”

As of Thursday, there were 2,903 confirmed cases in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. For the entirety of 2025, there were 2,289 confirmed cases in the country.

Utah and South Carolina are the only states that have more reported cases than Pennsylvania with 526 and 670 cases, respectively.

Pittsburgh experts are chalking the outbreak up to one thing: a decrease in vaccinations.

“Nothing changed about the virus,” Adalja said. “What changed is that people decided that they did not want to use the technology that kept measles at bay. When you remove that protection … That virus is still there waiting to take advantage of that.”

Measles has been around “since antiquity,” he said. People lived with the side effects of the virus such as fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes and a rash from head-to-toe until there was an effort in the 1960s to develop a vaccine against it. In 1991, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines were combined.

“When you have the immunization rate go below 95, 93% of having immunity, then we get to a point where there’s a very high risk of getting it,” said Dr. Marian Michaels, a physician in the division of pediatric infectious disease at Children’s.

Other side effects include immune amnesia, where people become more susceptible to other infections, pneumonia and brain swelling.

The virus spreads through the air and can remain suspended in the air hours after the contagious person coughed or sneezed. Michaels said it is one of the most contagious viruses.

But if someone is vaccinated, this is not something they should be worrying about, Adalja said.

The U.S. declared measles as eliminated in 2000, Adalja said. In countries where the vaccine is not available, he said there are close to 100,000 measles-related deaths per year.

The measles-free declaration means that there were no cases originating on U.S. soil, Michaels said.

The reason that this is happening now is because people’s beliefs surrounding vaccinations have changed, Adalja said.

“It’s not as if there was a hurricane that wiped out a vaccine factor and now there’s a shortage of MMR vaccine,” he said. “This is voluntary. This is chosen. This is people who have swallowed a lot of this information from the anti-vaccine movement and have decided that the MMR is not a value to them or their children.”

The MMR vaccine comes with the side effects of having a sore arm and sometimes a fever, but Michaels said these can be treated and serious infection is rare.

“This is an unbelievably well-studied and safe vaccine,” Michaels said.

Michaels said she remembers a time when there was a Hepatitis A outbreak outside of Pittsburgh, and it changed the recommendations surrounding the disease.

“I think it behooves all of us to really take precautions,” she said. “When we are able to prevent a disease, such as measles, it really behooves us to take advantage of all the science that has gone into that to protect us.”

If a Duquesne student believes they were exposed to measles, has questions about their immunity status or has experienced symptoms of illness, they should contact Health Services at 412-396-1650.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu