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Getty Images / Pennsylvania is home to thousands of Amish, who avoid many aspects of modern life For the past few months, nurse Dale Weiser has been making unexpected home visits. As the state battles the deadliest measles outbreak in recent history, the clinical supervisor drives 30 miles (48.3km), sometimes daily, to a rural corner of Pennsylvania where many Amish people live. Walking into strangers' homes, Weiser says she tries her best to be respectful and non-intrusive as she vaccinates dozens of family members against the measles, sometimes around the kitchen table. "A lot of people that I encounter, they don't have health insurance. They don't have a lot of interaction with the health system, and they just haven't seen the need to get these vaccines," said Weiser, who works for the Chester County Health Department. "When you start talking and you answer their questions, and build that trust, a lot of times they will make a different decision." The at-home vaccinations are part of the county and state health departments' strategy to encourage immunisations in the county, which includes an Amish community who abstain from many aspects of modern life, including regular contact with the western medical system. Dale Weiser / Weiser has vaccinated around 100 people since the outbreak began, going into people's homes to improve access to vaccines The state health department told the BBC it has administered nearly 4,300 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines at pop-up clinics near the epicentre of the outbreak since it began in late April. US measles cases reach 35-year high But even as health officials see success in their vaccine programmes, the state has reported four deaths from measles complications, marking the most deadly outbreak the US has seen since 1992. The infections have led to tensions between state and federal health officials, including vaccine-skeptic Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. Those politics are back of mind in the Amish community, where people are growing fearful of more deaths as they watch their friends and family fall sick with the disease, which for decades has been eliminated in the US. "They're not a community that's as easy to reach - we can't just put up a social media post," Weiser said. "They are suffering at the moment, and we're trying to reach out and make connections." Getty Images / Pennsylvania is home to thousands of Amish, who avoid many aspects of modern life Amish people began coming to the US in the early 1700s, with the first community settling in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Known as the "Plain People" for the simple clothes they wear, the Amish are a devout Christian community that does not use many forms of technology, relying on horse and buggies instead of cars. About 90,000 Amish people live in Pennsylvania, with estimates suggesting around only a quarter of Amish people in the Lancaster area have had the MMR vaccine. There is no particular religious text advising against vaccines, but Amish people do not have regular contact with the western medical system, or have a way to easily travel to appointments, experts said. "A lot of people who haven't gotten vaccinated, it's not because they have a strong stance against getting vaccinated for measles. It's just that they haven't gotten around to it. It's not convenient," said Braxton Mitchell, a genetic epidemiologist with University of Maryland School of Medicine who runs a research clinic studying the Amish in Lancaster. Amish people are extremely social, he said, so when the virus hits one church group, it affects everyone who is unvaccinated. "Measles is rampant in the Amish community," he said. "People are concerned about it." He added the community has been especially concerned about the dangers to babies; so far two newborns have died of measles complications, as well as an 18-year-old and a 40-year-old woman, according to state officials. Boots on the ground Dale Weiser / Chester County has vaccinated 538 people against measles Chester County public health officials did not wait long to launch a response to the growing measles outbreak in their community, which shares a border with Lancaster County, the epicentre of the outbreak. Jeanne Franklin, the director of the health department, said officials have been using some of the strategies they employed during the Covid pandemic - knocking on doors in the community to let them know about the outbreak and offering private settings, like people's homes, for immunisations. Since the outbreak started, the county has given 538 MMR vaccines, 340 of which they administered in private settings. "People have called up and said, 'I can't get to your clinic, or, I don't want people to know I've changed my mind," Franklin said. "'If you can come to us, that's a lot easier.'" The boots-on-the-ground approach has helped the health department dispel misinformation and build trust with the community, local health officials said. In recent years, childhood vaccination rates have fallen across the country as false theories about the safety of the measles vaccine have proliferated on social media. Those theories have found roots even in an insulated community with limited access to computers, Weiser said. She has heard people ask if there are heavy metals in the vaccine that could make them magnetic, or if the shot has a computer chip in it. "You're clearly getting information from that hard-core group that is promoting that misinformation and disinformation," she said. People in this "hard-core group", who are staunchly against vaccines, are unlikely to be swayed, experts and officials themselves said. But now, local health officials said, many affected by the Pennsylvania outbreak are seeing their neighbours fall seriously ill and asking thoughtful questions. Weiser said many are parents who are unfamiliar with the shots and are scared to make the wrong choice for their children. "There is the classically-defined anti-vaxer, versus people who are

中文概览

中文标题： 在阿米什人聚居区，护士挨家挨户阻止麻疹致命传播

宾夕法尼亚州正应对美国自1992年以来最致命的麻疹疫情。护士戴尔·韦泽等人前往阿米什社区挨家挨户接种疫苗，以建立信任并提高接种率。卫生部门自4月底以来在疫情中心附近临时诊所接种近4300剂MMR疫苗，但已有4人死于并发症。阿米什人少接触现代医疗，疫情在未接种者中蔓延。

  • 情报分类：综合情报
  • 分类依据：公共卫生疫情与疫苗接种报道，不属于其他类别，归为综合情报。
  • 信息来源：英语新闻 / BBC News Top Stories
  • 发布时间：2026/9/24 08:15:46