A fourth death has been linked to measles in Pennsylvania, the state health department said Tuesday.All four deaths have been reported in the last month, as Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak continues to grow.They are the first deaths associated with measles in the state in 35 years.In all of last year, the U.S.
recorded three measles deaths.Pennsylvania’s health department said in a press release Tuesday that the two people who died most recently were from Jefferson and Mifflin counties.Both were unvaccinated, the department said.
The Mifflin County coroner said Tuesday that an 18-year-old resident died “due to complications of measles,” specifically, a rare and severe neurological condition that causes inflammation in the brain.The Jefferson County resident was a 40-year-old woman with asthma and severe lung disease who died on Saturday, the county coroner previously reported.
The two deaths in Lancaster County were in infants: a newborn who died shortly after birth and a 6-week-old.The county coroner has said he believes measles was only the cause of death for the 6-week-old baby.
In the case of the newborn, the coroner said he found evidence of the measles virus in the infant’s lung tissue but considered the cause of death to be an internal hemorrhage and “traumatic rupture” of the spleen.The first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is typically given at around 1 year, so neither infant had been eligible to receive it.Two doses offer 97% protection against measles, usually for life (the second is given at around age 5).The Pennsylvania health department considers a death to be “measles associated” if there is clinical evidence of a measles infection, a positive laboratory test and if the death occurred within 30 days of symptoms starting.
It also takes into account the person’s medical records and whether they were exposed to measles prior to their death.The department said in a press release that the two latest deaths w...