Pennsylvania health authorities on Wednesday reported a fifth measles-related death, as the United States experiences its worst year for the disease since 1991.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said the individual lived in Lancaster County and was unvaccinated. The state did not offer further information about the deceased. Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni said his office did not handle the death, and state authorities have not provided him with any details.
The other deaths in the state included an 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania, a 40-year-old woman from Jefferson County in western Pennsylvania, and two babies in Lancaster County in the southeastern part of the state.
None of them were vaccinated, according to the state health department. The babies were too young to be vaccinated, according to current recommendations.
In the last two years, eight measles-related deaths have been reported in the United States, more than the total combined deaths reported during the previous three decades.
The measles outbreak in Pennsylvania continues to grow, and 943 cases have been reported this year across 39 counties. The measles-associated deaths are the first to be reported in the state in 35 years, according to state authorities.
The country eliminated endemic measles transmission in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, but these have fallen in recent years below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks. Meanwhile, infections of the disease have surged in recent years.
International health authorities are set to meet in November to determine whether the United States and Mexico have lost their measles-free status.
The problem has been brewing for years as fewer children receive vaccines routinely due to parental exemptions, access issues, and widespread misinformation. More recently, health officials in the administration of President Donald Trump, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have questioned and sowed doubts at an unprecedented level about the established safety of vaccines, while cutting funding for local efforts to improve vaccination rates.
