HARRISBURG, Pa. — With two new recorded deaths, Pennsylvania’s ongoing measles outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down.
On Sept. 15, the state Department of Health reported that two people — a 40-year-old woman from rural Jefferson County and an 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County — have died from complications linked to measles. Both were unvaccinated. This brings the number of deaths in the Keystone State outbreak to four., the first in the state in 35 years.
Coroners in Jefferson and Mifflin counties confirmed that the two latest individuals who passed away had tested positive for measles and that their deaths were not caused by another condition.
In August, two infants in Lancaster County also died after contracting the disease. According to the Associated Press, Ivan Miller died on Aug. 14 shortly after his birth of a ruptured spleen. He had measles that did not contribute to the rupture, but measles was listed as a “significant condition” at the time of death.
Mary Stoltzfus was 6 weeks old when she died Aug. 18 at her home. She was born with a genetic birth defect that left her highly vulnerable to an infection. A measles infection killed her, Lancaster County’s coroner Stephen Diamantoni told the news agency.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, have not said whether they will count either death as measles-associated, and the agency’s website still carries a disclaimer about them. Infants under 1 are too young to receive the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine, according to current guidelines.
“We remain committed to working with our partners across Pennsylvania to stem this outbreak and prevent more deaths,” said Debra Bogen, the state secretary of health, in a recent statement.
State health officials have counted 767 confirmed cases of measles in 38 different counties, 93 of of those in the last 7 days.
A major share of recent cases has been concentrated in rural farming areas, including Pennsylvania’s Plain and Amish communities, where unvaccinated farm families, workers and visitors often spend time together in close quarters like kitchens and barns. Those without prior immunity or vaccination, especially young children and adults who have never received the MMR shot, are at the highest risk of infection and severe complications.
The disease is infamous for its ability to spread like wildfire. A respiratory illness, measles takes aim at the world from the comfort of every person it infects who breathes, coughs or sneezes. But it can stand on its own, too: Even after a sick individual vacates a given area, the virus can linger on, staying active in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours. That makes it especially pernicious: it’s contagious enough to threaten people who don’t have direct contact with someone infected.
Even more sobering is that 20% of those diagnosed with measles will need to be hospitalized. Measles can cause serious short- and long-term health problems, from pneumonia to brain swelling. Early symptoms include a fever, coughing, a runny nose and red, watery eyes. A rash usually appears on the head before spreading downward. Symptoms may show up between seven and 21 days after someone was exposed. Though rare, measles-associated deaths occur in one to three out of every 1,000 cases.
The U.S. eliminated the domestic spread of measles in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, which have since fallen in recent years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks like the one in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Trump administration health officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have sown doubt about the established safety of vaccines. Kennedy has gone as far as challenging Pennsylvania’s reports of the measles-linked deaths, questioning whether they occurred at all or if measles genuinely contributed to them, as well as accusing Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office of political posturing.
