A growing share of Ohio parents are opting not to vaccinate their kids for diseases like measles and polio.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 6% of the state’s kindergartners got vaccine exemptions last school year. That’s more than double the percentage of Ohio kids who got vaccine exemptions prior to the COVID pandemic — and it’s higher than the national exemption rate of about 4%.
“Unfortunately, when parents do not vaccinate their children, diseases that aren't normally seen can pop back up,” said Valerie Wallace, a communicable disease nurse with the Tuscarawas County Health Department. “We in Tuscarawas County are having a measles outbreak right now that's happening in the unvaccinated community.”
The outbreak, which is also affecting Ashtabula, Geauga and Wayne counties, is the third in Ohio since the beginning of the year. The nation is dealing with its worst year for measles spread in three decades, due to a decline in herd immunity in certain communities.
“What we've seen in state after state is that the increase of exemptions leads directly to an increase in outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases,” said Dr. Robert Frenck Jr., a professor of pediatrics and director of Cincinnati Children’s Vaccine Research Center.
What are the risks of measles?
Measles is associated with a rash, along with symptoms like a fever, runny nose and red eyes. But pediatricians like Frenck say the side effects can be severe.
“The death rate of measles is about three in a thousand. So it's not horribly high, but it's not zero,” he said.
Frenck notes that parents often aren’t aware of the risk of long-term side effects from measles.
“Your immune system can be basically destroyed for about six months, so that you're at risk for a lot of other infections,” he said.
Measles is also one of the leading causes of preventable blindness and deafness.
Some kids can experience fatal consequences from the disease years down the line, says Dr. Claudia Hoyen, the director of pediatric infection control at the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
“There's something called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and children who have had measles under 5, but especially under 2 years of age, are at risk for developing this,” she said.
It generally develops seven to 10 years after someone gets the measles, and though it’s very rare, it’s fatal.
“I have never read of a case or heard of a case where anyone has survived,” Hoyen said. “It starts out as people having behavior changes, then losing developmental milestones, and then, eventually succumbing to the encephalitis. So, there are reasons why we advocate for vaccines.”
Frenck says the U.S. has made incredible progress over the past century in protecting children’s health and safety – and he doesn’t want to see that progress reversed.
“In 1900, 20% of children died before their 5th birthday,” he said. At the time, the lead causes of childhood death included illnesses that are now preventable by vaccines, as well as poor hygiene and unclean water.
“We've fixed all these things and we don't want to go backwards,” Frenck said.
Vaccine recommendations
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August calling on the federal government to reduce the number of required childhood vaccines and break up the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine — although the vaccines are not currently available that way, public health experts say.
Hoyen said to the best of her knowledge, Ohio’s childhood vaccination recommendations have remained the same.
“The science around vaccines and their side effects has not changed,” she said. “We are going on the science that we have used for the measles vaccine for at least for 60-plus years, and for the other vaccines that have been around not as long, but we know are equally safe and effective.”
Among the 5.7% of Ohio kindergartners receiving vaccine exemptions, only 0.2% – or 249 – are for medical reasons. More than 7,000 kindergartners received non-medical exemptions for the 2025-2026 school year.
For those who have questions and concerns about vaccines, Hoyen recommends talking to a trusted doctor.
“Parents are always trying to do what’s best for their children. We understand that as pediatricians and we understand that when they’re hearing different viewpoints, it can be confusing,” she said. “And so, I think the best thing that someone can do is, if they have questions, talk to your provider. We're in this together.”
