# Pittsburgh's measles test, 70 years after Salk

> The city that beat polio now has kindergarten vaccination rates too low to stop measles.
- Title: Pittsburgh's measles test, 70 years after Salk | Shortify
- Summary: The city that beat polio now has kindergarten vaccination rates too low to stop measles. Measles spreads when coverage slips below 95%, and Allegheny…
- Keywords: measles, vaccines, pittsburgh, public health, mmr, science, ideas, Pittsburgh's, test, years, Salk, The Conversation
- Source: The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/pittsburghs-kindergartners-fall-below-the-measles-safety-threshold-testing-the-citys-vaccine-legacy-291098
- Author: Rebecca Smullin Dawson
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: measles, vaccines, pittsburgh, public health, mmr, science, ideas
## Measles beat football
Since August 2026, exposure alerts and vaccination reminders have dominated Pittsburgh news. In this city, that takes some doing.
## A statewide outbreak
As of Sept. 14, 2026, Pennsylvania confirmed 693 measles cases across 38 of 67 counties, with 133 hospitalizations and three deaths among unvaccinated residents. In all of 2025: 16 cases.
## It reached Allegheny County
The county's first case tied to the outbreak came in August, with a warning about exposure at UPMC Children's Hospital's emergency department. Two cases were confirmed Aug. 27.
## The city that ended polio
Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh. Children across the region, including the author's father, lined up for the 1954 trials.

> safe, effective, potent
## Older than the pyramids
Archaeologists found measles virus in the Tigris and Euphrates valley around 3000 B.C.E. It is one of the oldest and most contagious diseases we know.
## It spreads before symptoms
People are contagious 3 to 5 days before they feel sick, and the virus stays infectious in the air for two hours after an infected person leaves the room.
## Know what it looks like
Fever up to 105 degrees, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis, then Koplik spots inside the cheeks. The rash that follows looks like a bucket of red paint poured over the head.
## Below the line at 91.8%
Stopping measles takes 95% coverage. Allegheny County kindergartners hit 91.8% in 2025-26, part of a decline the health department has tracked for over a decade.
## Exposure math is brutal
Vaccinated people face about a 3% risk after exposure. For the unvaccinated it is roughly 90%, plus a 21-day quarantine and 14 days of isolation if symptoms start.
## The damage outlasts the rash
About 20% develop pneumonia, each case costs the health system around $43,000, and measles suppresses immunity for months or years afterward.
## Key takeaway

Measles spreads when coverage slips below 95%, and Allegheny County's kindergartners are at 91.8%.