LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported five measles cases in Lancaster County that could potentially be linked to the outbreak in South Carolina.
According to the DOH, contact tracing is underway, and all five cases involve patients who have not been vaccinated.
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“It only takes one person who is traveling and not immune to be exposed to the measles and then bring it back to Pennsylvania,” said Dr. John Goldman, an infectious disease expert with UPMC. “The measles is kind of the canary of the coal mine, meaning that if vaccination rates fall, it’s going to be one of the viruses that come back first.”
Experts like Goldman maintain that the best defence against the disease is the MMR vaccine. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months, and the second between four and six years old.
To reach herd immunity for measles, roughly 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated, according to the academy.
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A map created with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that part of the Midstate does not meet that threshold. In Dauphin, Lancaster and York counties, less than 70% of the population are fully vaccinated.
“What we see is that our rates have fallen below that critical threshold,” said Dr. Evan Shirey, a Penn State Health pediatric infectious disease expert. “The vaccination is very safe and very effective. We’ve been doing this for decades and have had billions of people in the world who have received the MMR vaccine.”
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