PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The annual respiratory virus season is fast approaching, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) is urging people to get vaccinated against the flu, COVID-19 and other diseases before the fall.
Dr. Andrew Lutzkanin, president of PAFP, said the three main vaccines to get before the fall are influenza, RSV and COVID-19, which doctors say still remains a concern. Since September 2025, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said more than 13,000 residents were hospitalized with COVID-19.
“You don’t really know when a change will happen that could produce a really bad strain,” he said, “like the Delta strain that we saw back in 2021 that was very infectious and a lot of people got very sick and unfortunately died.”
Since last fall, the health department said more than 24,000 Pennsylvanians have been hospitalized with the flu, and another 10,000 with RSV.
Patients should also make sure they are protected against measles, as an outbreak continues to spread in our region. Pockets of cases have cropped up in Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon and Susquehanna counties.
Halfway through the year, there are more than 2,000 measles cases nationally — already more than all of 2025.
The Pennsylvania Health Department has reported at least 101 confirmed cases of measles as of July, and nearly 40,000 students are not fully protected against the potentially deadly disease.
Recent studies also show 1 in 4 elementary schools have vaccination coverage below what’s needed to prevent an outbreak among students.
Dr. Carlene Muto, vice president of infection prevention for Temple Health, said these outbreaks are happening because children aren’t vaccinated.
“Once you introduce measles into a community where there’s a lower degree of immunization, if you’re not immunized, if one person has the disease, they’re likely to pass it to 10 other unimmunized people,” she said.
Doctors are now recommending that babies in at-risk areas be immunized for measles earlier than the usual recommendation of 15 months.
“We’re trying to encourage people, if they have questions about getting vaccinated, to talk to their family doctor to get their questions answered,” Lutzkanin added. “We do have very safe and effective vaccines available to prevent illness and prevent serious complications.”
