Outbreak has reached 1,136 cases with 219 hospitalizations
A 39-year-old Franklin County woman with underlying health conditions has become the sixth person to die of measles in Pennsylvania’s ongoing outbreak, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office reported Monday.
The woman’s death was investigated Saturday, the coroner said in a statement, and meets the criteria of a measles-associated death as set by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She had previously been diagnosed with and treated for measles. The coroner’s office did not state the woman’s vaccination status, and said no additional information will be released to protect the privacy of the deceased and her family.
“This is the first death in Franklin County in many years with a patient with a recent history of a measles diagnosis,” the coroner said.
Pennsylvania’s outbreak, which began in late April, has reached 1,136 cases as of Friday, according to the state Department of Health’s measles dashboard. The agency reported 157 new cases over the previous seven days. Of the total cases, 219 patients were hospitalized. The largest age group was 18 to 24, with more than 400 cases, and 33% of cases involved people under the age of 18.
Lancaster County has recorded the highest case count by far, with 407 infections, followed by Mifflin County at 167. Three of the five previously reported measles deaths in the state were unvaccinated Lancaster County residents. The first two deaths, reported in August, were Pennsylvania’s first measles-related fatalities in 35 years.
In response to the outbreak, the state has administered more than 5,700 MMR vaccinations at 198 pop-up clinics in affected communities, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.