With an increase in measles cases recently reported in eastern Pennsylvania, St. Luke’s pediatricians are encouraging parents to take steps to protect their children, including discussing an accelerated vaccination schedule with their child’s healthcare provider.
“Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases, but vaccination is the safest and most effective way to protect your child and those around them,” said Jennifer Janco, MD, Chair of St. Luke’s Pediatrics.
Dr. Janco recommends that parents of children who live in or plan to travel to areas where measles cases have been reported consult their pediatrician about whether an earlier vaccination schedule may be appropriate:
- Infants ages 6-11 months may be eligible for an early dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.
- Children who have already received one MMR dose at one year of age may be eligible to receive their second dose earlier than the usual four-year-old dose
An up-to-date list of Pennsylvania counties with confirmed measles cases is available at www.pa.gov/measles.
“We strongly encourage parents to contact their child’s healthcare provider, especially before traveling, to ensure their child is up to date on recommended vaccinations and adequately protected against measles,” Dr. Janco said.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is based at the Bethlehem Campus.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest continuously operated School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 60+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 550+ residents and fellows. Additionally, the St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences opened in 2026.
In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked St. Luke’s #1 – ahead of Houston Methodist and Mayo Clinic, two of the nation’s most prestigious institutions – as the nation’s top health system for quality, safety and patient experience. This objective recognition, based on public data reported to the government, reaffirms St. Luke’s preeminent position as THE BEST OF THE BEST among the most respected health care systems in the United States.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. In 2026, all of the Network’s eligible hospital campuses were awarded Medicare’s highest ratings for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. The Network also earned straight A’s for safety from Leapfrog across all of its acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 12 years in a row, including in 2026 when the Network was identified as THE #1 MEDIUM-SIZE HEALTH SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy
