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Two more people in Pennsylvania have died from the highly contagious measles virus, state officials announced Tuesday.
One person lived in Jefferson County and the other in Mifflin County, and both were unvaccinated, according to the state Department of Health.
State leaders did not disclose any other information, but according to a social media post by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office on Sunday, one of the fatalities included a 40-year-old woman who died on Sept. 12 “from complications associated with measles.”
“This is a heartbreaking loss for the family and an unfortunate reminder that measles can be a serious and potentially life-threatening disease,” Coroner Greg Furlong said in the post. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time. We ask that the public and media respect their privacy as they mourn the loss of their loved one.”
The other fatality was an 18-year-old from Mifflin County, whose cause of death was acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, “a rare and severe neurological complication of measles,” Coroner Andrea Alcalde said in a statement Tuesday.
These cases are in addition to two other measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania reported last month. Both occurred among infants in Lancaster County.