US records ANOTHER measles-related death after teen dies from brain swelling complication
A Pennsylvania teenager has died from measles complications, marking the state’s fourth death from the virus this year.
An unvaccinated 18-year-old from Mifflin County, about 150 miles from Pittsburgh, died ‘due to complications of measles,’ county coroner Andrea Alcalde confirmed Tuesday.
The coroner said the unidentified teen’s death was due to acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare and severe neurological condition associated with measles that causes inflammation in the brain.
No other details about the teenager were released.
The announcement comes just days after health officials announced an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman in nearby Jefferson County had died over the weekend from ‘complications associated with measles.’
Pennsylvania has recorded four measles-related deaths so far this year, the first deaths in the state in 35 years.
The two other deaths were in infants from Lancaster County.
The state’s case count has risen to 693 as of September 14, 99 of which have been reported within the last seven days. There have been 133 hospitalizations, and less than one percent of patients had received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
An 18-year-old Pennsylvania woman died Saturday due to measles-related complications (stock image)
The health department said that the ‘best protection against measles remains getting fully vaccinated.’
The MMR vaccine, which is given once between ages 12 and 15 months and again between ages four and six, is thought to be 97 percent effective in preventing measles, according to the CDC.
For unvaccinated people, nine in ten of those exposed to the virus will get infected.
‘My thoughts are with the two families who lost loved ones to this highly-contagious virus, as Pennsylvania faces the worst measles outbreak in more than three decades,’ Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr Debra Bogen said Tuesday.
‘We remain committed to working with our partners across Pennsylvania to stem this outbreak and prevent more deaths. That means ensuring people have the facts about measles and access to the MMR vaccine – which kept measles outbreaks at bay for decades.’
