A Simple Step for a Healthier Community

In close-knit communities like ours, health isn’t just personal—it’s shared. We pass each other in the grocery stores, enjoy community events together, and cheer on our kids as they play on the same sports teams. And while that’s what makes rural communities so incredibly special, it’s also what makes us vulnerable when illnesses start to spread.

This past year, news outlets across the country ran story after story on the current situations surrounding public health. Several states reported outbreaks of measles among schoolchildren—bringing renewed attention to a disease once declared eliminated in the United States. At the same time, many communities, including our own, faced one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, resulting in emergency rooms packed with patients and visitor restrictions in place. Through it all, one topic kept coming up in conversations, headlines, and households alike: vaccines.

What are vaccines?

First introduced to the scientific community in the late 1790s, vaccines have been protecting people from contagious diseases for more than two centuries. By working with your body’s natural defenses to build up protection, vaccines teach your immune system how to recognize and fight off harmful viruses and bacteria. They do this by introducing a weakened or inactive version of the germ to your body so that, in turn, your immune system learns how to respond without making you seriously ill. Thanks to vaccines, your risk of developing serious infectious diseases such as chickenpox, human papillomavirus (HPV), pertussis (whooping cough), and measles is greatly reduced. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccines save millions of lives every year and are key to primary healthcare.

Since their introduction into modern medicine, vaccines have changed the global healthcare landscape. By shifting our collective focus from treating infectious diseases to preventing infectious diseases, we’ve made once common illnesses such as smallpox, polio, and diphtheria extremely rare in many parts of the world. Thanks to decades of proven research and testing, as well as strong community participation, children today are living longer, healthier lives than those born just a few generations ago. Vaccines are a simple step with a powerful impact, and one of the many ways we continue to build a healthier future together.

But the overwhelming benefits of vaccination extend well beyond the individual protection they offer those who choose to receive them. When enough people in a community are vaccinated against a particular disease, like measles, it becomes much harder for that illness to spread because there are fewer people available to infect. This concept, known as herd immunity, helps protect those in our community who are unable to receive potentially life-saving vaccines. This vulnerable group includes babies still too young for certain shots, people with compromised immune systems (such as patients undergoing chemotherapy), and elderly adults who may not respond as strongly to vaccines due to their naturally weakened immune systems. When someone from one of these groups catches a vaccine-preventable disease, they are much more likely to experience severe symptoms, complications, or even hospitalization—something that makes community-wide protection through vaccination so important.

 In smaller communities like ours—where we live, work, and gather closely together—herd immunity is one of our strongest tools for keeping each other safe and healthy. By choosing to vaccinate, we’re not just protecting ourselves—we’re protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. When a significant number of people in a community choose vaccinations, they are reducing the transmission rates of infectious diseases and creating a barrier of protection to keep them from spreading further. Every vaccination strengthens the shield around our community, and when we each do our part, we create a stronger, safer place for everyone to call home.

Know the FAQs

Aren’t vaccines mainly for children?

Receiving vaccines as a child is essential, but adults need protection too! As we age, our immunity can fade—but booster shots for diseases like tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) can help renew that important protection. It’s also recommended that adults stay up to date on routine vaccinations for illnesses such as shingles, pneumonia, the flu, and COVID-19. If you realize you’re missing a vaccine (childhood or otherwise), please let your primary care provider know—it’s not too late to protect yourself!

I got my flu shot, but why did I still get the flu?

While a yearly flu shot is your best defense against the flu, it’s unfortunately not 100% guaranteed. Flu viruses are always changing, and each year’s vaccine is based on the strains that researchers predict to be most common. Though you may still catch the flu, the vaccine can reduce your risk of serious complications and help your body respond better to the illness. If you caught the flu, you probably experienced milder symptoms and a faster recovery than someone who decided to skip a flu shot.

Measles is all over the news, but I thought it was pretty much gone. What’s happening?

Though it was declared “eliminated” in the United States back in 2000, declining vaccination rates have resulted in a measles comeback. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 935 confirmed measles cases in the United States as of May 1, 2025—a dramatic increase from a total of 285 confirmed cases in 2024 and just 59 cases in all of 2023.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses around—about 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed to it will become infected—which means that staying up to date with vaccinations is crucial to protecting yourself and your community.

Where can I get my vaccines locally?

We’re more than happy to help with vaccinations! Reach out to your primary care provider if you’d like to discuss your options, or visit mhsystem.org/FindAProvider to schedule with one today.

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  Letter From the CEO: Caring For Our Community, Season After Season

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  Progress in Motion at Our Women and Children’s Hospital

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  Breaking Ground on Sistersville General Hospital

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  Funding Vital Therapy Equipment: Judy Heinrich’s Story

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  Gather ’Round for Good Health