Every so often, we find ourselves revisiting debates about science that were settled long before many of us were born.

There’s been a lot of talk about vaccines — COVID-19, HPV, flu shots and probably a few others I can’t immediately recall.

The latest dustup is about measles, a disease so contagious it can hang in the air for hours.

It’s also something that can be so preventable that just one safe, widely available vaccine nearly eliminated it in this country.

And yet, the debate continues. We’re arguing about immunity as well as mentality. Basically, it’s the difference between protecting the herd and following one.

Newspapers all over the country are reporting about that debate right here in Pennsylvania.

Recent measles cases have re-triggered questions about vaccination rates and school year requirements, not to mention the politics swirling around President Donald Trump’s order on a vaccine policy.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has urged folks to follow the longtime guidance, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, is questioning the vaccine as well as the mandates requiring people to get it.

It’s the same old story, but the stakes got higher now that measles has started showing up in the nation for the first time in years.

The latest numbers available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as I write this report 2,903 confirmed cases of measles as of late August. That’s more than the 2,289 cases reported in all of 2025.

As of Wednesday, Pennsylvania had 540 cases in 36 counties, including two cases in Lehigh County.

Some of the outbreaks have dipped below the levels required for herd immunity, and some national reports are showing measles-related deaths.

We’re no longer dealing with what we remember happened in the 1950s. The threat today is real and shows what happens when a community lets its guard down.

And the debate goes on.

Herd immunity is an idea labeled by scientists. Basically, it’s when enough people are vaccinated, the virus struggles to spread. For measles, that means around 95%. People who are vulnerable — infants and others who for some reason can’t be vaccinated — are protected by the immunity of others.

On the other hand, herd mentality is what happens when politics, misinformation and fear come into play.

It’s a response that leads people to turn away from vaccines because someone they follow online told them to be suspicious. You might say it’s an instinct that treats solid public health practice as opinion rather than a proven tool that keeps kids alive.

Today, many Americans are caught in the middle of that perceived dilemma.

Depending on the politics, Trump’s order has been seen differently. Some say it’s a push for medical freedom, while critics say it can harm tried-and-true methods.

RFK Jr. — while not challenging their efficacy — says vaccine schedules should be re-thought and that mandating them go against parents’ rights.

Meanwhile, we have Shapiro emphasizing that measles is preventable, vaccines are safe and the state’s schools rely on immunization rates to keep outbreaks from spreading.

What’s happening here is a small part of a larger picture. The skeptics preach individuality, while the other side supports protecting everyone.

As the new school year begins, parents are trying to decide whether their children will sit in classrooms where measles can spread before anyone knows what’s happening.

Many of us can attest that the measles vaccine does its job. There are few complications, and it protects whoever gets it as well as the people around them.

There may be some minor issues, soreness at the injection site, low-grade fever or maybe a mild rash.

Getting the shots are probably the safest way to prevent measles outbreaks.

But the naysayers persist. Social media sites, especially, often misinform and breed mistrust. It’s the herd mentality talking, and people are listening to the loudest voices instead of the credible ones.

Pennsylvania’s recent cases should wake up parents.

When a disease as contagious as measles finds an opening, it spreads fast. That’s when kids get sick, and maybe even die.

Real science, sometimes, is cruel.

That said, as schools open, parents are filling out forms, updating records and checking immunization records. School nurses are looking over compliance lists, and districts are preparing to deal with possible outbreaks.

It’s not a good time for herd mentality. It is, on the other hand, perfect for herd immunity.

Being vaccinated is a public responsibility. It helps the very old and the very young, keeps classrooms full and prevents tragedies in a nation that offers them safety.

Politics and mandates be damned. We can debate all that stuff forever.

But we can’t argue with science.

Measles doesn’t care about presidential orders or a governor’s gobbledygook. It cares about whether it can find a host. And another … and another.

Whatever the mentality, we owe our kids the opportunity of immunity and making sure that measles can’t find them.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 45 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.