The following is a statement from Wareham Pediatrics: As pediatricians, our responsibility is first and foremost to protect the health and well-being of children. That is why we feel compelled to speak plainly about a troubling development in our country: the erosion of confidence in routine childhood vaccination and the weakening of clear, science-based vaccine recommendations.
This week, Pennsylvania reported its first measles-associated deaths in 35 years. Two unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County died from a disease that modern medicine has long known how to prevent—a disease that was eradicated in the United States by the end of the 20th century largely because of the MMR vaccine.
These are not simply statistics. They are two lives lost—and a painful reminder of what can happen when vaccination rates fall and communities lose the protection that widespread immunization provides.
Measles is extraordinarily contagious. It can cause pneumonia, brain inflammation, hospitalization, and death. Before widespread vaccination, hundreds of Americans died from measles each year. Vaccination changed that reality so profoundly that an entire generation grew up barely knowing the disease existed.
We are now seeing that progress reversed. More than 2,700 measles cases have been reported in the United States this year, the highest annual number in more than three decades. Pennsylvania alone has reported hundreds of cases. At the same time, national childhood vaccination coverage has fallen below the approximately 95% level needed to maintain strong community protection against measles.
The two deaths in Pennsylvania are a stark warning about where vaccine hesitancy and declining immunization rates can lead. The timing should make all of us pause. At precisely the moment measles is resurging, our country needs stronger, clearer, evidence-based vaccination guidance—not policies or public statements that create confusion and uncertainty for parents.
At Wareham Pediatrics, we will continue to recommend vaccines based on the best available scientific evidence and on what protects children—not on politics.
The MMR vaccine has been used safely for decades and remains the best protection against measles. Two doses provide approximately 97% protection against the disease.
We encourage every family to review their child’s immunization record with their pediatrician. If you have questions or concerns about vaccines, please talk with us. Pediatricians welcome those conversations. You deserve accurate information, honest discussion about benefits and risks, and recommendations grounded in rigorous medical evidence.
Children should not have to suffer or die from diseases that we know how to prevent.
The tragedy in Pennsylvania is a reminder of what is at stake. We owe our children—and one another—the protection that vaccination provides.
With concern for the health of every child in our community,
Dr. Reynolds
Wareham Pediatrics
