Opinion: Measles almost killed me. Now I’m a doctor — and I’m scared of what’s happening
The author survived a near-fatal case of measles in kindergarten in 1961. One sibling caught it, then another, then him; his siblings recovered quickly, but his father rushed him to the hospital, where he stayed for a month, part of it in a coma, with dangerously unstable blood pressure. He argues his story is worth repeating because children who die don’t grow up to tell their own stories, and his career as a physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert with senior state and federal government positions compels him to speak out.
When he fell ill, there was no vaccine. Six decades later, despite a proven vaccine and 26 years of measles elimination, children are again enduring what he went through—and some are dying. This July, the U.S. surpassed the entire 2025 measles case count. Four measles-related deaths have been reported in Pennsylvania: two in children, one in an 18-year-old, and one in a 40-year-old. Nationwide, this year already has the most measles cases since 1991, with back-to-school season underway and the holiday season still ahead.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth. It spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room, and a single case can infect nine out of 10 unprotected people nearby. Most physicians today have rarely seen an actual case, and because early symptoms can mimic other respiratory illnesses, patients can expose many others before anyone recognizes what is happening. In severe cases, patients can develop pneumonia or brain swelling that causes permanent disability or death. Even when patients don’t die, measles can be devastating: one in five unvaccinated patients is hospitalized, and the experience can be costly, emotional, and traumatizing for patients and their loved ones.
The pathway to stopping the surge is not a mystery. One dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective; at 95% community vaccination, measles struggles to gain a foothold. Yet U.S. childhood MMR vaccination rates fell to 92.4% in 2025. The author notes that his own survival was helped by health insurance, a pediatrician, access to high-quality hospital care, a mother who paid close attention to public health information, and a town with a robust public health department—resources not available to everyone. Decades in medicine and public health have taught him that the biggest obstacle to vaccination is often not outright refusal, but lack of access to health care, insurance, public health services, or someone who can answer patients’ questions.