Two unvaccinated die of measles in Pennsylvania, first state deaths in 35 years

Maryland declared outbreak one day before Pennsylvania deaths announced

Two unvaccinated residents of Pennsylvania’s Lancaster county have died of measles, state health officials announced Tuesday, marking the first measles deaths in the state in 35 years.

“My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen said in a statement. “Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness.”

Pennsylvania has counted nearly 400 cases across 28 counties since the outbreak began, with nearly half concentrated in southern Lancaster county, according to state health authorities. Most of the reported cases are in adults between 18 and 49. The state said official tallies are typically an undercount of actual cases. No further information was released about the two individuals who died.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine and is preventable with a vaccine. Public health guidance puts the case-fatality rate at one to three deaths for every 1,000 people infected. Complications can include pneumonia and brain swelling, and up to 20% of infected people will be hospitalized.

“As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles,” Bogen said, referring to what clinicians call the MMR vaccine.

One day before the Pennsylvania deaths were announced, Maryland declared a measles outbreak in St Mary’s, Carroll and Cecil counties. Maryland health officials reported 31 confirmed cases in the state.

“The overall risk remains low if you are fully vaccinated,” Maryland Health Department Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani said in a statement. “We ask that Marylanders join us in our effort to help keep our youngest safe and protect those who are most at risk. Checking your vaccination status and getting vaccinated if you are not up-to-date is the simplest and most effective way to do that.”

On the same day, New York state urged residents to get vaccinated, citing an uptick in cases in rural parts of the state around the capital, central and western regions.

The deaths come one week after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing the largest-ever one-year increase in requests for vaccine exemptions — the process by which parents can request not to have their child vaccinated and still send them to school. The same data showed a long, slow decline in vaccination rates, particularly for measles.

The news also follows a press conference in which President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. linked vaccines to autism — a decades-old claim from the anti-vaccine movement that has been repeatedly investigated and not supported by the scientific evidence.