HealthWednesday, November 11
A Chester County health worker has given more than 400 measles shots in Amish homes since August
The West Chester Morning News team
Dale Weiser, clinical services supervisor for the Chester County Health Department, has been driving out to Amish homes to give the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and requests travel by word of mouth. "I was at a house, like, at 4:30 in the afternoon, and I had a phone call at 8 the next morning saying, 'hey, I heard you were down the street. Can you come do that at my house?'" she said.
The stakes are high. Pennsylvania has confirmed more than 1,500 measles cases and six deaths, and NPR calls it the country's worst outbreak in 35 years. Surveys suggest only about a third of Amish families in the region vaccinate their children. Public Health Director Jeanne Franklin said "it has to be boots on the ground in the communities."
Measles in Pennsylvania and Chester County's response, by the numbers
- 400+
- doses given in Amish homes since August
- 1,500+
- confirmed measles cases in Pennsylvania
- 6
- measles deaths confirmed in the state
- 500+
- confirmed cases in Lancaster County
Sources: VISTA.Today, NPR
- Who: Dale Weiser, Chester County Health Department
- Visits: one family at a kitchen table, or dozens waiting
- Outreach: staff ask church leaders and businesses to share clinic flyers
- Lancaster County: state officials hold regular vaccination clinics
About a thirdof Amish families in the region vaccinate their children, surveys suggest
Amish beliefs don't prohibit vaccination. Weiser says it's seen as a family and individual choice.
Sources: VISTA.Today, NPR
Sources: VISTA.Today, NPR